Over the past two weeks, the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (COP17) was successfully held in Ulaanbaatar. Desertification is known as the “cancer of the Earth.” Today, 40% of the world’s land is degraded, affecting nearly half of the global population. China was once among the countries most severely impacted by desertification. Today, it has become the first country to achieve “zero net land degradation” and the country that has grown plantation more and faster than any other country in the world. The Convention Secretariat says, “The world looks to China for desertification control.” What should we look at when it comes to China’s experience? I would say, first and foremost, the world’s largest afforestation project in human history — the Three-North (Northwest China, northern part of North China, western part of Northeast China) Shelterbelt Forest Program.
The Three-North Program is about the long-term planning. The Three-North region is home to eight of China’s major deserts, four major sandy lands and vast Gobi area, covering a total area of 1.48 million square kilometers. In 1978, faced with increasingly severe sandstorms and soil erosion, China officially launched the Three-North Program. Spanning from 1978 to 2050, the program consists of three stages and eight projects. Over the past 40-odd years, China has advanced the program according to the plan with adjustments in light of actual progress. Last year, on the basis of the 336,000 square kilometers of desertified and sandified land already brought under control, China revised the Overall Plan for the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, setting new targets, including raising forest and grassland coverage to 43% and bringing all treatable desertified land under control by 2050.
The Three-North Program is not the whole story. In its fight against desertification, China has always adhered to the principle of carrying out the set blueprint until it becomes reality. As early as 2001, China enacted the world’s first dedicated legislation on desertification prevention and control, and introduced multiple rounds of 10-year plans for combating desertification. By setting clear goals and tasks and putting supporting measures in place, China has restored 53% of its treatable desertified land, creating a historic transformation from “sand forcing humans to retreat” to “trees forcing sand to retreat”.
The Three-North Program is about science and technological innovation. In the past, combating desertification relied on manual labour. Today, a wide range of new equipment and technologies are already in use. Multi-function sand-fixing machines have long replaced manual laying of straw checkerboard barriers, increasing the speed 180-fold. Tree-planting robots can dig trenches, plant seedlings and cover them with soil in one go, planting over 600 square meters of land in just 19 minutes. Heavy-lift drones work in tandem with ground crews who receive sand-fixation materials from the air. Artificial biological algal crust technology can achieve in just two years what would take decades under natural conditions to create a stable micro-ecosystem. AI models for desertification control can truly deliver tailored approach for each site, ensuring that every drop of water and seedling is put to the best possible use.
Besides the Three-North Program, China has established a complete research system for combating desertification and developed a comprehensive set of technologies. By adapting measures to local conditions and adopting targeted approaches, China has significantly reduced costs and raised efficiency, turning desertification control from a labour intensive job to a technological one.
The Three-North Program is about the commitment to improving people’s lives. In Talatan, Qinghai, more than 7 million photovoltaic panels stretch across the landscape. As the world’s largest PV park by installed capacity, Talatan is best known not for its green electricity, but for a group of “PV sheep.” The vast arrays of PV panels not only generate electricity, but also reduce wind speeds and surface water evaporation. Condensed water on the panels can nourish the land, helping vegetation recover and providing fodder for sheep. Talatan has thus developed a model that combines electricity generation, fodder growing, and sheep raising, creating win-win outcomes for the natural ecosystem and local communities.
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, China emphasizes advancing ecological restoration and improving people’s livelihoods together, and promotes the development of green industries such as specialty agriculture and tourism in desertification-affected areas. The country’s annual output of desert-related industries has reached hundreds of billions of yuan, benefiting tens of millions of people and demonstrating the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.”
As a Party to the UNCCD, China is advancing international cooperation on combating desertification and empowering green development in the Global South. As more than 80% of Mongolia’s land is affected by desertification, action is an urgent task. China supports Mongolia’s “Billion Trees” Initiative and has established the China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center. Through the construction of ecological restoration demonstration areas, technology sharing and training programs, China is helping Mongolia strengthen its capacity. China is also working closely with UN agencies to provide Mongolia with firefighting equipment and solar heating facilities, improve its soil management, and enhance climate resilience of herders to improve the well-being of the Mongolian people.
Humanity has only one Earth. In the face of the common challenge of desertification for all humanity, China stands ready to continue supporting Mongolia in ecological restoration and combating desertification. China is also ready to contribute more Chinese wisdom and solutions to global efforts to desertification response, and work with all parties to create a cleaner and more beautiful home for humanity.