China's desertification control achievements praised at UNCCD Conference

China's efforts in holding back its deserts date back over 50 years. According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 53 percent of China's treatable desertified land has been managed. By the end of last year, China's forest coverage rate exceeded 25 percent.

China joined the UNCCD in 1994 as one of its first signatories, and has been twice honored by UNCCD secretary for its "outstanding contribution to combating desertification".

Chinese people have developed various methods such as the straw checkboard barrier fixing sand dunes, aerial seeding and sandy land closure for revegetation, overcoming technical challenges in the restoration of forest and grass cover in arid and semi-arid areas and significantly improving survival rates, said Guan Zhi'ou, head of the Chinese delegation to the COP16 and director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

"In recent years, mechanized and intelligent technologies such as sand fixation machinery, data monitoring, and drone seeding have been widely adopted," he said.

These technologies and methods are also being showcased at the China Pavilion, along with China's ecological civilization concept, typical character stories in the history of desert control, as well as economic crops such as sea buckthorn and goji berries that bring benefits to people in desertified areas.