China is one of the countries with the greatest diversity of wildlife in the world. There are more than 6,266 species of vertebrates, including 2,404 species of land vertebrates and 3,862 species of fishes -- more than 10% of the world's total. There are nearly 500 species of animals, 1,189 species of birds, more than 320 species of reptiles and 210 species of amphibians. Wildlife peculiar to China includes such well-known animals as the giant panda, golden-haired monkey, South China tiger, brown-eared pheasant, white-flag dolphin, Chinese alligator and red-crowned crane, totaling more than 100 species. The black-and-white-haired giant panda is an especially attractive sight. Heavily built, it has a docile disposition, and is delightfully adorable. The 1.2-meter-tall red-crowned crane is a snow-white migratory bird. A distinctive patch of red skin tops its grey-brown head, hence its name. The white-flag dolphin is one of the only two species of freshwater whale in the world. In 1980, a male white-flag dolphin was caught for the first time in the Yangtze River, which aroused great interest among dolphin researchers worldwide.

China is one of the countries with the most abundant plant life in the world. There are more than 32,000 species of higher plants, and almost all the major plants that grow in the northern hemisphere's frigid, temperate and tropical zones are represented in China. In addition, there are more than 7,000 species of woody plants, including 2,800-odd tree species. The metasequoia, Chinese cypress, cathaya tree, China fir, golden larch, Taiwan fir, Fujian cypress, dove-tree, eucommia and camplotheca acuminata are found only in China. The metasequoia, a tall species of arbor, is considered as one of the oldest and the most rare plants in the world. The golden larch, one of the only five species of rare garden trees in the world, grows in the mountainous areas in the Yangtze River valley. Its coin-shaped leaves on short branches are green in spring and summer, turning yellow in autumn. China is home to more than 2,000 species of edible plants and 3,000 species of medicinal plants. Ginseng from Changbai Mountains, safflowers from Tibet, Chinese wolfberry from Ningxia and notoginseng from Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are particularly well-known Chinese herbal medicines. There are a wide variety of flowering plants. A flower indigenous to China, the elegant and graceful peony, is treasured as the National Flower and the King of Flowers. Three famous species of flowers -- the azalea, fairy primrose and rough gentian -- grow in southwest China. During the flowering period, mountain slopes covered with flowers in a riot of colors form a delightful contrast with undulating ridges and peaks.  

According to the Report on the State of the Environment in China 1999, there were 1,146 nature reserves of various kinds in the whole country by the end of 1999. The total area of nature reserves reached 88.152 million hectares, among which the land area was 84.509 million hectares accounting for about 8.8% of the territory, and the marine area was 3.643 million hectares.

There were 155 national level nature reserves with an area of 57.515 million hectares. There are 19 nature reserves -- Changbai Mountain, Dinghu Mountain, Wolong, Wuyi Mountain, Fanjing Mountain, Xilin Gol, Bogeda Peak, Shennongjia, Yancheng, Xishuangbanna, Tianmu Mountain, Maolan, Jiuzhaigou, Fenglin, Nanji Islands, Baishuijiang River, Gaoligong Mountain, Huanglong and Shankou Mangrove that have been listed in the "International Man and Biospere Reserve Network" by UNESCO; 7 nature reserves -- Zhalong, Xianghai, Poyang Lake, East Dongting Lake, Dongzhaigang, Qinghai Lake and Mipu in Hong Kong have been listed in Important International Wetland Inventory; and 4 nature reserves -- Jiuzhaigou, Wuyi Mountain, Zhangjiajie and Lushan Mountain have been listed as World Nature Heritage or Nature and Culture Heritage.