An expressway running through the shelter forest on the edge of the Kubuqi Desert. [Photo by Chen Bin/Xinhua]

The Kubuqi model is a replicable, practical and sustainable approach contributed by China to the global desertification control effort. It is being celebrated at the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD that opened in early September in Inner Mongolia.

The Kubuqi International Desert Forum is a biennial event launched in 2007. The theme of this year’s forum is “the Green Belt and Road Initiative, Sharing Desert Economy”.