A French delegation of nine representatives from AFD (Agence française de développement) and Vosges park of France started a visit to Xianju county of East China's Zhejiang province on April 15.

The visit consisted of a one-week tour for the guests from France. During the week they carried out on-the-spot investigations of Sidu village in Qiushan country and an ancient waxberry park in Yang'an village and Gongyu eco-tourism area, and conducted training and exchanges themed on homestay industry development, social group management and natural education.

A French delegation of nine representatives from AFD (Agence française de développement) and Vosges park of France investigates the Xianju national park. [Photo/chinanews.com]

The board of AFD approved the demonstration project of biodiversity protection, development and utilization in Xianju county in December 2016, and the project was carried out in July of the next year, with a total investment of 1.24 billion yuan ($184.3 million), including a 20-year loan of 75 million euros from AFD.

Wang Yongjun, secretary of the Party leadership group of the management committee of Xianju national park, said a normalized communication system among Xianju national park, AFD and Vosges park has formed in recent years. The AFD project has been in the implementation stage, and the science and education center project and ecological rehabilitation project of Xianju national park also began construction in the past year.