From sand advancing and people retreating to green advancing and sand retreating, China's desertification control has completed a historic reversal in five years.

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, China has cumulatively controlled 152 million mu of desertified land and 29.32 million mu of rocky desertified land, with a continuous reduction in desertification levels and significant improvement in the ecology of sandy areas.

As the main battlefield for sand prevention and control in the Three North region, the sixth phase of the project has arranged tasks of 463 million mu and completed 355 million mu, basically achieving more than half of the time task. At present, 136 ecological management zones have been divided, and multiple batches of drought resistant, cold resistant, salt alkali tolerant new varieties have been selected and bred. The utilization rate of good varieties in the engineering area exceeds 75%.

The area of desertified land in China has shifted from an average expansion of 5.15 million mu at the end of the last century to an average annual reduction of 10 million mu. The total amount of soil erosion in the eight major deserts and four major sandy areas has decreased by about 40% compared to 2000, and the vegetation coverage in the sandy areas has reached 21.17%, an increase of 2.84% compared to 10 years ago.

The once pressing yellow sand is retreating, and China's experience in desertification control is going abroad, continuously contributing solutions and strength to global desertification control.Editor/Cheng Liting