(Yomiuri: December 4, 2015 – p. 4)

 The government has informally decided on a policy of providing 10 billion yen to the “Japan-China Greenification Fund,” a private organization undertaking an afforestation project in China. It will include the outlay in a supplementary budget for fiscal 2015. It aims to improve bilateral ties between Japan and China thorough private-sector exchanges.

 The fund was established in 1999 under the leadership of then Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi. The Japanese government extended 10 billion yen for the establishment of the fund. Reportedly, the government has helped the private-sector organization plant trees in China, and about 10 million trees have been planted every year, covering a total of about 65,000 hectors. The government hopes that the tree-planting project will reduce wind-borne PM2.5 pollutants from China.