The ecological status of the Xizhong Nansha islands and reefs is released centrally.

On the occasion of the National Ecological Day in 2026, China has released a comprehensive report on the status of the ecosystems of the South China Sea islands and reefs for the first time. The overall ecological condition of the nine islands and reefs in the Xisha and Nansha regions is good but varies among them: the Xisha islands and reefs show a promising recovery trend; Huangyan Island is a rare "gene bank" in the central South China Sea, with a rich variety of reef-building corals and an abundance of rare species; and the ecological conditions of the Nansha islands and reefs are notably differentiated, overall good, but some islands and reefs exhibit serious degradation of their ecosystems.