The key contribution of this stage was that the state formulated and issued many laws, regulations and normative documents successively, and put forward the requirements for the conversion of farmland to forests, and some places carried out partial exploration and practice in the conversion of farmland to forests. As early as April 1949, the “Interim Regulations on the Protection and Development of Forestry and Forestry” issued by the Administrative Office of Northwest Shanxi stipulated that the forest land that has been reclaimed and barren should be returned to forest. On opened forest land near the forest, if it is easy to afforest, tilling should stop and afforestation should start. Small farmland areas in the forest should be converted back to the forest. This was the first official document on the conversion of farmland to forest. In December 1952, the former Prime Minister Zhou Enlai issued the “instructions on mobilizing the masses to continue to carry out drought and drought relief movement and vigorously promote Soil and Water Conservation Work”, which pointed out that: “Due to the long damage to mountain forests and unplanned reclamation in steep slopes, many mountains lose the ability to store rainwater (Office of the State Forestry Administration, 2006). First, there should be planned sealing, afforestation, planting and banning of steep slopes in mountains and plateau areas...” In particular, on October 20, 1998, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council document entitled “Several Opinions on Post-disaster Reconstruction, Rehabilitation of Rivers and Lakes, and Construction of Water Conservancy” placed “closing mountains and planting trees, conversion of farmland to forests” in the first place in the “32-character” comprehensive measures for post-disaster reconstruction. It also pointed out that: “Actively promoting the closure of mountains for reforestation, the planned and step-by-step return of farmland to forests for over-reclaimed land, and speeding up the restoration and construction of forest and grass vegetation are major measures to improve the ecological environment and prevent river floods.”

In the 50 years from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the late 1990s, China has repeatedly issued relevant regulations and regulations in normative documents, and they have called for and mobilized people to return farmland to forests. In the 1990s, the Ulan Chabu League in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region returned 8.0×10⁵ ha of farmland to forests and grassland, and preserved 6.0×10⁵ ha, of which 4.67×10⁵ ha of forests and grasses represented the first seen in the Ulan Chabu League in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. While effective, but limited to the historical conditions at the time, many places have not yet solved the problems of food and clothing, people’s thinking and understanding are limited, the government’s financial resources are difficult, and there is a lack of effective and unified guidance and management. The conversion of farmland to forests at this stage had the characteristics of a general call for mobilization and sporadic practice.

Throughout the 50 years of calls, publicity and mobilization, and along with the increasing severity of ecological damage and the gradual improvement of people’s living standards, people’s ecological awareness became gradually strengthened, and they had come to realize the destruction and disaster of deforestation, and the necessity and urgency of the conversion of farmland to forests.

The first round of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland began in 1999 and lasted for 15 years. A total of 9.267 million ha of farmland was converted into forest and grassland, in addition to 17.467 million ha of barren hills and wasteland suitable for afforestation, and 3.067 million ha of hills closed for afforestation, for a total afforestation area of 29.8 million ha. The project involved 25 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) (2422 counties included). 32 million rural households and 124 million farmers were directly benefited. This round was mainly divided into three stages.

(1) Pilot demonstration (1999-2001). In 1999, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces took the lead in carrying out the pilot project of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland in accordance with the requirements of the State Council. That year, the conversions of 3.81×10⁵ ha of barren hills and 6.6×10⁴ ha of wasteland suitable for afforestation were completed. In March 2000, the State Forestry Administration, the State Planning Commission, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the “Notice on Carrying out the Pilot Demonstration Work for Conversion of farmland to forests (Grass) in the Upper and Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River and the Upper and Middle Reaches of the Yellow River in 2000” and established the pilot demonstration implementation plan. A total of 174 counties (groups, farms) in 13 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River have carried out pilot projects for the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands.

In July 2000, the State Council held a symposium on the pilot work of the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands in the central and western regions in Beijing to study the active, stable, healthy and orderly implementation of the pilot and demonstration work. In September 2000, the State Council issued the “Several Opinions on Further Doing a Good Job in the Pilot Program of Conversion of farmland to forests and Pastures”, clarifying the implementation of the provincial government’s overall responsibility and improving the policies for the conversion of farmland to forests and pastures.

The 2001 “Government Work Report” emphasized that steps should be taken to promote natural forest protection, the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands, sand prevention and control, grassland protection and other key projects in accordance with local conditions. By the end of 2001, 21 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps participated in the pilot project of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses, and completed 2.303 million ha of pilot tasks in three years. Among them, 1.206 million ha of farmland was converted to forests and grasslands, and 1.097 million ha were afforested on barren hills and wastelands suitable for forestry.

(2) Fully implemented (2002-2006). From October 2001 to January 2002, many conferences were held, which promoted the conversion of farmland to forest and grassland as an important measure to stimulate domestic demand and increase farmers’ income, and to further expand the scale of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland. In January 2002, the Western Development Office of the State Council and the State Forestry Administration held a national teleconference on the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands, announcing the full launch of the project. That year, 25 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps were arranged in two batches. The conversion of farmland to forests and grassland included 2.647 million ha, and the afforestation of barren hills and wasteland suitable for afforestation involved 3.082 million ha. In December 2002, the “Regulations on Conversion of farmland to forests” was promulgated. In 2003, the country implemented 3.367 million ha of conversion of farmland to forests and grassland, and 3.767 million ha of afforestation on barren hills and wasteland suitable for forests, for a total mission of 7.133 million ha. In 2004, in accordance with changes in the macroeconomic situation and the relationship between the national food supply and demand, the state made structural and adaptive adjustments to the annual tasks of the conversion project. In 2005, the task of conversion of farmland to forests and grassland focused on solving the problems left over from the implementation of the 2004 plan. In 2006, the task of conversion was further reduced. From 2002 to 2006, 25 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps implemented 22 million ha of conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands. Among them, 8.067 million ha of farmland were converted to forests and grasslands, in addition to 12.6 million ha of barren hills and wastelands suitable for afforestation, and 1.333 million ha of closed hills for afforestation.

(3) Consolidate the achievements (2007-2013). According to the original provisions of 8 years for returning farmland to ecological forest subsidies, 5 years for economic forest returning subsidies, and 2 years for grass returning subsidies, the policy of direct subsidies to farmers had expired one after another, and some farmers who had returned farmland experienced difficulties in their livelihoods. In June 2007, the State Council decided to extend the subsidy policy for the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland for another period. After the original subsidy expired, farmers who had returned farmland would continue to be compensated appropriately. In August 2007, the State Council issued the Notice on Improving the Policy of Conversion of farmland to forests, putting forward the main policies and measures to consolidate and further develop the achievements of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses efforts and steadily promote project construction (Zinda et al., 2017). Since 2007, the arrangement of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland has been suspended, but the arrangements for afforestation of barren hills suitable for afforestation and closure of mountains for reforestation continued. From 2007 to 2013, the relevant departments gradually increased the subsidy standards for artificial afforestation and closure of hills for afforestation. A total of 3.776 million ha of barren hills and wastelands suitable for afforestation and 1.767 million ha of hills were closed for afforestation across the country, which effectively promoted the greening of the country. Since 2008, the central government has arranged a special fund of 95.865 billion yuan to consolidate the achievements of the conversion of farmland to forests in a concentrated arrangement for 8 years. It is mainly used for the construction of basic ration fields, rural energy construction, ecological migration, follow-up industrial development and the employment and entrepreneurship transfer skills for training and replanting of farmers in the western region, the Beijing-Tianjin sandstorm source control area and the central region enjoying the western region policy. It also represented a tilt towards areas with special difficulties. In 2008, the relevant departments jointly examined and approved the special plan for consolidating the conversion of farmland to forests of the provinces and regions. A total of 3.63 million ha of basic grain fields were built nationwide, 8.11 million rural energy sources such as household biogas digesters, firewood and coal-saving stoves, solar water heaters, etc. were built, 1.21 million people were ecologically migrated, and 6.142 million ha of industrial bases were developed. 12.08 million farmers who had join in the plan were trained, replanted 5.045 million ha, and implemented construction projects such as forest tending and management, low-yield forest transformation, and facility agriculture (Zhang and Chen, 2009).

In August 2014, with the consent of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State Forestry Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Land and Resources jointly issued the “Notice on Printing and Distributing a New Round of Overall Plan for Conversion of farmland to forests and Grasslands”. It proposed to return 2.827 million ha of farmland to forests and grasslands from the country’s qualified slope farmland and severely decertified farmland by 2020 (National Forestry and Grassland Administration. 2021). In December 2015, the Ministry of Finance and the other eight departments jointly issued the “Notice on expanding the scale of Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses”, which adjusted the basic farmland to non-basic farmland, and carefully studied the requirement of 15-25 degrees in important water sources and seriously polluted farmland to forest and grass. In 2017, the State Council approved the reduction of 2.467 million ha steep slope basic farmland in 17 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) to use in expanding the scale of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses. In 2019, the State Council approved the expansion to include 11 provinces, Shanxi and other poor areas, steep slope terraces, 15 to 25 degrees, seriously desertified farmland, and led to the conversion of farmland to forest and grass on 1.380 million ha. In total, the second round of Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses has exceeded 6.67 million ha.

From 2014 to 2020, 22 provinces and regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps implemented the second round of conversion for 5.033 million ha, of which 4.967 million ha were converted to forests and grasslands and 66000 ha were reforested on barren hills and wastelands suitable for forests.

As of 2020, the central government has invested a total of 535.3 billion yuan in the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland in 2435 counties in 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). With 40% of the total afforestation area of key projects, 41 million households and 158 million farmers directly benefited. The implementation of the project for converting farmland to forests changed the traditional farming habits used by farmers for generations to cultivate wasteland and grow grain, and realized the history of deforestation and reclamation in the conversion of farmland to forests. The construction of the project has achieved great results, with a comprehensive benefit of 2.41 trillion yuan every year, making outstanding contributions to the construction of an ecological civilization and a beautiful China (Li et al., 2017).

(1) The ecological benefits are remarkable, and they have made great contributions to improving China’s ecological situation. As an important carrier of large-scale land greening, the conversion of farmland has greatly increased forest and grass vegetation since its implementation. The forest coverage rate in the project area has increased by more than 4%, and in some areas by more than a dozen or even dozens of percentage points (Zhu et al., 2015). Through the implementation of Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses, soil erosion in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River and around important lakes has been significantly improved, land desertification in the north and rocky desertification in the southwest have been effectively curbed (Li, 2009), wildlife habitat has been effectively restored, and biodiversity has been protected and strengthened (Hu et al., 2021). According to the latest monitoring and evaluation results in 2020, the total value of ecological benefits generated from the annual conversion of farmland to forest has reached 1.42 trillion yuan, equivalent to more than double the total investment in the project.

(2) The economic benefits have gradually emerged, and have made positive contributions to the realization of targeted poverty alleviation in the new era. According to the monitoring and evaluation, the annual economic benefits from the conversion of farmland to forests have reached more than 250 billion yuan. In conjunction with the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands, relevant localities have established a large number of ecological industry bases through the development of woody grains and oils, dried and fresh fruits, and an under-forest economy, which have cultivated and strengthened ecological industries. In particular, the new round of conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands has greatly promoted the development of economic forests. From 2014 to 2019, 2.378 million ha of economic forests were planted, accounting for 58% of the total planned tasks. The conversion of farmland to forests and grassland is mostly implemented in the old revolutionary base areas, ethnic minority areas, remote areas and poverty-stricken areas, and has become a powerful promoter of targeted poverty alleviation (Li et al., 2011). Over the past 20 years, 812 poor counties have implemented the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses, accounting for 97.6% of the total number of poverty-stricken counties in the country. By the end of 2020, each household returning farmland had received more than 9000 yuan of central government subsidies on average (Li et al., 2020). The channels for increasing income have expanded, and farmers’ income has become more stable and diverse (Gao et al., 2020).

(3) The social benefits are extensive and far-reaching, and have made outstanding contributions to the optimization of production and living ecology. The production mode was optimized, which promoted the transfer of agricultural production factors, increased the grain yield per unit area and reproduction index, accelerated the transformation of traditional agriculture to modern agriculture, and allowed many areas to break out of the vicious cycle of “the poorer the more cultivated, the more cultivated and the poorer”. This has improved the way of life, liberated a large amount of the rural labor force, and fundamentally changed the traditional lifestyle of farmers “facing the loess and back to the sky”. The young generation was liberated from the shackles of cultivated land and embarked on a life in pursuit of higher dreams and hope. The ecological mode has been adjusted, and the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses has become a “propagandist” of ecological culture and a “seeder” of ecological consciousness. The concept of ecological priority and green development has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the behavior of loving green, protecting green and protecting ecology has become a common trend. We optimized the relationship between cadres and the masses, added policies to households, became open, transparent and known to the household, and improved the prestige of the Party and the government among the people. Many farmers have said affectionately that Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses is the third largest good rural policy in New China, after soil reform and family production contracting.

(4) This effort demonstrates the wisdom of a great country and sets a model for global ecological governance. Large-scale conversion of farmland to forests and grasses has made great contributions to increasing forest coverage and participation in global ecological governance. For more than 20 years, the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland has made important contributions to ensure that my country maintains “double growth” for many consecutive years and the area of planted forest preservation has long been the world’s first under the circumstance of the declining global forest area and accumulation. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development establishes the goal of “Achieving Zero Growth in Global Land Degradation by 2030”. According to the results of NASA’s 2019 research, my country’s net green area growth has ranked first in the world since the dawn of the new century (NASA, 2019). According to data from the same period, the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses has contributed more than 4% of the global green net growth area. In February 2019, the journal Nature published an article on the implementation of the conversion of farmland to forests and tackling climate change, calling for the world to learn from China’s experience. Gretchen Daly, an academician of the American Academy of Sciences and a professor at Stanford University, pointed out through long-term, in-depth research that China’s conversion of farmland to forests is a stunningly innovative project. Through it, two crucial issues have been solved: One is to protect the environment and guide industrial transformation, and the other is to provide opportunities for the extremely poor in rural areas to become rich. She believes that the conversion of farmland to forests has achieved obvious results in China, and other countries should pay attention to and learn from China’s experience, and treat China as a mirror.

At present, China is at the historical convergence of its two centenary Goals. We must not only finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, but also build on that momentum and embark on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country. The stage of development changes, the development environment changes, and social needs also change. Having turned to a high quality development stage in China, with the “difference” in promoting the development of high quality as the theme, the main target is included in the significant improvement of quality efficiency on the basis of realizing sustainable economic development, the ecological environment continues to improve, the ecological security barrier is more solid, the urban and rural living environment has improved significantly, and the crucial results consolidate developing poverty. The main task of ecological protection and restoration is to improve the quality and stability of the ecosystem. This requires that we consider the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses in the context of the overall situation and changes in China's current economic and social development, and properly handle the relationships between ecological benefits and economic benefits, targeted poverty alleviation and the consolidation of poverty alleviation achievements, and the realization of an all-round well-off society and the start of a new journey of modernization. This means that the new situation puts forward new and higher requirements for the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses. In the future, the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses must take the road of high-quality development. Through high-quality construction and high-level management, ecological, economic and social benefits can be improved simultaneously and high results and benefits will ultimately be achieved. This is a new task presented to us by the new situation. It is both an opportunity and a challenge for us to understand, grasp and answer the question well, so as to deliver a satisfactory answer to the motherland and the people.

Over the past 20 years, the total scale of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses has reached 34.8 million ha, and 14.2 million ha of arable land has been withdrawn. The ecological, economic and social benefits are significant, and it has made a huge contribution to global greening (Chen et al., 2019). In response to the profound changes in the current development environment in my country and the objective needs of the new normal of development, the large-scale advancement of the conversation of farmland to forests and grasses has ended, and it will inevitably shift to a high-quality development stage with quality as a priority and a moderate scale. This requires that we respond scientifically and actively, seize the opportunity, improve the policy system, establish a long-term mechanism with the theme of comprehensively improving quality and efficiency, and fundamentally promote the sustainable development of the conversion of farmland to forests and grasses (National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 2020).

To realize high-quality development of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses, we must first straighten out the overall idea of the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands for high-quality development in accordance with the overall requirements of the central government and the high-quality development of forestry grasslands. The basic idea of promoting the high-quality development of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses in the new era is: Guided by Xi Jinping’s thoughts on ecological civilization, deeply implement the concept of “green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains”; promote the quality, efficiency, and power changes in the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands, with high-quality development as the theme, and comprehensive benefits as the goal; implement measures in accordance with local conditions, implement policies in different areas, and provide classified guidance; unremittingly carry out the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands, optimize the use of land and space, and make greater contributions to promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, thus building an ecological civilization and a beautiful China.

The high-quality development of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland means striving to achieve the “three high levels”, namely: high-quality construction, high-efficiency results, and high-level management. To achieve these “three high levels” means to fully implement the construction goal of “regressive, well-deserved, rich, and non-rebound”, and ensure that we should be retired, sustainable and efficient, and ecologically beneficial to the people. The first is high-quality construction, that is, the high-quality of the whole process of the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands, starting from selecting good and suitable seedlings, to using scientific vegetation allocation patterns, restoration methods and technical means to plant, and then to use scientific management to manage and protect the forest and grass resources. The second is the high-efficiency results, that is, the structure of the ecosystem is perfect, the supply of products is rich and diverse, the forest and grass and related industries are prosperous, the income of farmers who have returned from farming has continued to grow, the soft power of the culture of returning farmland has been greatly improved, and the ecological, economic, and comprehensive benefits to the society have been significantly improved. The third is the high level of management, that is, to realize the informatization, scientific basis and institutionalization of management, to establish a comprehensive information management platform for the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland with a high standard and a high starting point, and to implement comprehensive, full-process scientific and effective regulatory supervision of project construction. High-level and modern management ensure the high-quality and efficient progress of the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands.

By 2025, the indicator system, policy system, standard system, statistical system, performance evaluation and performance evaluation system for the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland for high-quality development will be initially established. The quality and benefits of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland have been improved. The results of the conversion of farmland to forests and grassland have been further consolidated, the ecological environment of the project area has been further improved, the industrial structure has been effectively adjusted, and the ecological benefits have been clearly demonstrated (Li, 2021b).

By 2035, a complete management system for the conversion of farmland to forests and grasslands for high-quality development will be established. The cultivated land in need of ecological restoration should be retired. The existing results have been effectively consolidated, the quality and efficiency have been significantly improved, and a stable forest and grass ecosystem will be established. The ecological condition of the project area has been fundamentally improved, the industrial structure has been optimized, and the ecological, economic and social benefits have been significant, which has promoted the basic construction of a beautiful China.

Combined with the red line requirements of 120 million ha of arable land, the current urgent and recoverable land area and the forecast analysis, China should promote the third round of Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses from 2021 to 2035, which is expected to involve about 6.67 million ha (Shen et al., 2015).

Short-term tasks (2021-2025): Promote all kinds of sloping farmland, cultivated land with serious desertification, reclaimed woodland and grassland in key state-owned forest areas, rivers, lakes and reduced farmland to forest and grass amounting to 2 million ha in the core area of national nature reserves.

Medium-term tasks (2026-2030): Promote the return of various sloping farmland, cultivated land with serious desertification, reclaimed woodland and grassland in key state-owned forest areas, rivers, lakes and farmland to 2 million ha in the core area of national nature reserves.

Long-term targets (2031-2035): Promote 2.67 million ha of various sloping farmland, cultivated land with serious desertification, reclaimed woodland and grasslands in key state-owned forest areas, eliminating cultivated land in rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses in the core area of national nature reserves.

Figuring out how to do a good job in the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses under the new situation is a problem that we must solve at present.

First, Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses must act in accordance with the principle of respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature in planning the top design of the Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses, and fundamentally solve the problems of what land, how much, and how to return. On the basis of scientific planning, it is necessary to retreat, so that no dead ends are left in the restoration of farmland and no hidden dangers are left in ecological protection.

Second, Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses must adhere to the guiding principles of benefiting the ecological, ecology and the people, and properly solve the problems of what converse, how to convert the land and how to make up for it. We should take measures according to local conditions, create a multi-symbiotic composite ecological and economic system, and achieve a diversified product supply.

Third, Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses must adhere to the overall governance and system repair, focus on solving the problem of how to organize the implementation, ensure that converse an area, build an area, achieve an area, and comprehensively improve the quality and benefit of the project construction and the effect of system repair.

Fourth, Conversion of Farmland to Forests and Grasses must give priority to protection and green development, and avoid the two extremes of “light protection” and “only protection”. On the premise of ensuring ecological goals, we must take into account the long-term livelihood and development of the people, to achieve a sustainable ecological economy.