Recently, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration officially issued a reply to the "Proposal on Identifying Peony as China's National Flower in Legal Form".
The full text is as follows: Proposal on Identifying Peony as China's National Flower in Legal Form".
The national flower is an important symbol of national civilization and an important part of national culture. China has a long history of flower cultivation, profound flower culture, rich germplasm resources, and is known as the "mother of the world's gardens". After more than 40 years of development, China's flower product capacity has been greatly improved, the production layout has been continuously optimized, the market circulation system has been basically established, the ability of scientific and technological innovation has been continuously enhanced, the flower culture has been further promoted, and the industry is changing from high-speed development to high-quality development. China has become the world's largest flower producer, an important flower country and a flower consumer. Determining the national flower is conducive to showing China's brilliant flower culture to the world, highlighting China's status as a great power and displaying China's image as a great country.
For a long time, the relevant departments have paid close attention to the determination of the national flower, and have organized seminars and selection activities for many times. In 1994, the former Ministry of Agriculture guided the China Flower Association to carry out the national flower selection activities nationwide, and put forward the plan of peony as the national flower. In 2005, the former State Forestry Administration guided the China Flower Association to hold a symposium of experts on the selection of national flowers and a meeting of the secretary-general of the National Flower Association to discuss the selection of national flowers and listen to the opinions and suggestions of people from all walks of life. In 2006, the former State Forestry Administration submitted the "Instructions on Applying for Review and Confirmation of the Selection Results of the National Tree, National Bird and National Flower" to the National Forestry Administration. In 2011, the responsible comrades of the Political and Legal Department of the Organization Bureau of the former State Forestry Administration, the Chinese Forestry Society, the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the China Flower Association went to the former Legislative Affairs Office to report the progress of the selection of "National Tree, National Bird and National Flower" and held a discussion. In 2019, our bureau organized experts and scholars to hold a symposium on the selection of national flowers, and the China Flower Association carried out a public opinion survey on "The National Flower in My Heart" through the Internet. However, at present, due to the large differences of opinion in all aspects, it is difficult to unify, and the time is not yet ripe to determine the national flower.
In the next step, our bureau will vigorously promote the high-quality development of the flower industry, promote flower consumption, promote excellent flower culture, further increase the publicity and popularization of knowledge related to the national flower, actively guide the public to pay attention to and understand the work of determining the national flower, fully listen to the opinions of all walks of life, continuously improve participation, and promote the determination of the national flower in an orderly manner.
*: Official of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration**.