* As China is pressing ahead on a green development path, green jobs, including forest ranger and environmental sanitation engineer, have embraced a golden age of rapid development.

* Among all sub-sectors, the carbon-neutrality sector saw the largest year-on-year increase of over 400 percent in new jobs in the first quarter of this year.

* The total number of personnel needed in the carbon reduction field in China will be between 550,000 and 1 million during the 2021-2025 period.

By Xinhua writers Ren Liying and Gao Bo

SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 24  -- Though the forest farm where Niu Yuzhu works in Zhuolu County, north China's Hebei Province, has been closed since winter, Niu has not stopped his daily patrols.

In addition to his patrol work, the 52-year-old has taken on other duties as the farm's "forest chief," including formulating forest management and protection plans, mobilizing locals to protect trees, and promoting the implementation of protection measures. He has been engaged in the industry since the age of 18, when he was in charge of tree planting at a state-owned nursery garden in the county.

Niu Yuzhu patrols a forest farm in Zhuolu County of Zhangjiakou City, north China's Hebei Province, Nov. 21, 2022. (Xinhua)

After decades of afforestation, the forest coverage rate of Zhuolu County has increased from 12 percent about 70 years ago to 54.43 percent today, with a total forest area of 147,113 hectares.

Zhuolu, a big forestry county, has become the epitome of China's green efforts in recent years. China has announced it will peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Pressing ahead on a green development path, it has made every effort to live up to its promises.

With the carbon reduction drive, green jobs, including forest ranger and environmental sanitation engineer, have embraced a golden age of rapid development in China.

INCREASING VARIETY

Recently, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security publicized a new edition of China's occupational classifications with 134 green professions, up from 127 in 2015.

According to the ministry, green professions are mainly in such fields as ecological environment monitoring, protection and governance, new energy production, and waste recovery and utilization, with a focus on the sustainable development of production, life and the ecological environment.