Successful model

The government’s policy support, coupled with enterprises’ engagements and social members’ participation, have provided a successful model for combating desertification in China, said Liu.

Enterprises pioneered the use of advanced science and technology, playing a leading role in the country’s campaign against desertification, according to Liu.

He said the enterprises made a considerable achievement, as they not only pitched in a vast amount of money but also demonstrated pragmatism and innovation. With respect to raising funds for desertification control, we should “mobilize all social resources”.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, China has initiated a series of effective policies and measures, like the Three-North Forest Shelterbelt Development Program, also known as the Green Great Wall, to deal with the increasingly higher level of desertification in China, especially the country’s northwestern regions.

With exploratory efforts over more than half a century China has succeeded in prioritizing development of both ecology and economy, addressing the problems of desertification while trying to help affected people escape poverty.

Goal of Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)

China has now achieved the goal of LDN ahead of the year 2030 set by the United Nations, said Liu.

Data indicate that China has made headway in reversing the growth of desertified and sandified land. In a way, it is a historic shift from sand encroaching on humans to greenery encroaching on sand.

The area of arable land degrading into deserts has shrunk at an annual rate of 2,424 square km over the past 10 years, as compared to an annual expansion rate of 10,400 square km in the late 1990s.

The area of sandified land has been contracting at a rate of 1,980 square km annually over the past decade, as compared to the previous annual expansion rate of 3,436 square km.

“China has set a goal to reforest 50 percent of the desertified land that can be treated by 2020, and the rest by 2050,” said Liu.