China’s Desertified Land Shrinks by 10 Million Mu Annually
Beijing — China’s desertified land area is now shrinking by an average of 10 million mu (approximately 667,000 hectares) per year, marking a dramatic reversal from the late 20th century when it was expanding by 5.15 million mu annually, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) announced on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.
The announcement, reported by Xinhua News Agency, represents a net improvement of over 15 million mu per year in the trajectory of desertification — a turnaround of approximately 300%. The data underscores the accelerating impact of China’s long-term ecological restoration programs, particularly the “Three-North” Shelterbelt Forest Program, the largest ecological restoration project in human history.
A Historic Reversal
At the end of the last century, China’s deserts and sandy lands were expanding at an alarming rate. Today, that trend has not only been halted but decisively reversed. According to the NFGA, soil wind erosion in China’s eight major deserts and four major sandy lands has decreased by approximately 40% compared to the year 2000. The average vegetation coverage in sandy areas has reached 21.17%, an increase of 2.84 percentage points from a decade ago.
“China’s desertified land area continues to decrease net, shifting from an average annual expansion of 5.15 million mu at the end of the last century to the current average annual reduction of 10 million mu,” an NFGA official said.
As reported by CCTV News, over the past decade-plus, China has cumulatively completed 365 million mu (24.33 million hectares) of desertified land treatment, with 27.94 million mu placed under protected area status. The country has achieved zero-growth in land degradation ahead of the global target.
The Three-North Project: A Green Great Wall
The cornerstone of China’s desertification control efforts is the “Three-North” Shelterbelt Forest Program, launched in 1978 and spanning 13 provinces across Northwest, North, and Northeast China. The program aims to build a “Green Great Wall” across northern China by 2050.
The forest and grass coverage rate in the “Three-North” project area has reached 40.76%, with 67.82% of treatable desertified land having been brought under control. Since the launch of the three major landmark battles of the “Three-North” campaign in 2023, a total of 88.9 billion yuan (approximately US$12.3 billion) in central investment has been allocated, 544 key projects have been organized and implemented, and 244 million mu (16.27 million hectares) of construction tasks have been completed.
In 2025 alone, the project completed 8.77 million hectares of construction tasks across 337 key projects — making it the largest treatment area and highest quality year in the project’s history, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Global Recognition and Leadership
China’s desertification control efforts have earned significant international acclaim. The “Three-North” project has been awarded the “Global 500” award by the UN Environment Programme. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Secretariat has twice awarded China the “Outstanding Contribution to Combating Desertification” award, stating that “the world looks to China for desertification control,” as reported by Guangming Daily.
China’s forest coverage rate has risen to over 25%, contributing one-quarter of the global increase in green area, making it the world’s largest contributor to global greening.
The Road to 2030
The “15th Five-Year Plan” period (2026-2030) has been identified as the critical and decisive phase for desertification control. The NFGA official stated that this period is “a critical period and decisive phase for comprehensively advancing national desertification prevention and control and fighting the ‘Three-North’ project.”
China aims to complete nearly 100 million mu (approximately 6.67 million hectares) of desertified land treatment tasks by 2030, with significant ecological improvement targeted in key areas including the four major sandy lands, desert oases, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Yellow River Basin, and areas around Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei.
Analysis: A Model for the World
The announcement, strategically timed for World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, highlights China’s positioning as a global leader in ecological restoration. The campaign increasingly relies on technological innovation — mechanized sand control, drone seeding, photovoltaic sand control, and new materials — shifting from labor-intensive to technology-intensive approaches.
World Meteorological Organization expert Sara Basart praised China’s approach, noting that “more and more countries are trying to monitor land changes to predict hotspots for sandstorms. China has also adopted many source-control strategies, such as establishing green belts on the edge of the Gobi Desert — this is a very good example.”
As the world grapples with the accelerating impacts of climate change and land degradation, China’s experience offers a large-scale case study in what determined, well-funded ecological restoration can achieve over decades.
Reporting by Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and Guangming Daily.