"It's like planting trees under the sea," said Chen Hong, director of the institute. "Though they grow slowly, the seedlings no bigger than fingernails may become coral reefs whose size can surpass several soccer fields."

In recent years, the team has planted over 200,000 coral reefs around Sanya city, Lingshui Li autonomous county and Danzhou city. That quantity broke the national record of coral reefs transplantation for amount and survival rate.

Chen and his team built China's first coral seed banks. More than 150 kinds of seeds have now been collected.

The institute also planted gorgonians to attract tourists and increase economic benefits by extracting the medicinal active substances.

Its research also found that zooxanthellae, symbiotic with healthy corals, can absorb carbon dioxide from the corals and the ocean. Protecting coral reefs helps decrease carbon dioxide in the ocean, which plays an important role in global climate change and carbon cycling.

About 300 people work to preserve and restore coral reefs at the 2 million-square-kilometer ocean administrated by Hainan, contributing to achieving China's goal of carbon neutrality and green development.

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