BEIJING: President Xi Jinping has highlighted the significance of strengthening desertification control and prevention to develop an even stronger green shield in the nation’s northern regions and secure greater outcomes in building a beautiful China.
Speaking during a meeting with officials on Tuesday in Bayannuur in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for sustained efforts to create new miracles in tackling desertification.
The strengthening of efforts to fight desertification and move forward with key ecological projects such as the Three-North Shelter Forest Program is a matter related to China’s ecological security, the building of a strong nation and the sustained development of the Chinese nation, he said.
Xi spoke after hearing from Wang Guanghua, minister of natural resources, Sun Shaocheng, Party secretary of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Hu Changsheng, Party secretary of Gansu province, and Liang Yanshun, Party secretary of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
Xi emphasized that China has attained tremendous outcomes in its anti-desertification efforts over the past four decades through the launching of the Three-North program, the Grain for Green program and a project to tackle sandstorms in Beijing and Tianjin.
However, he pointed out that desertification remains a major global ecological problem threatening the very survival and development of mankind, with China among the hardest-hit countries in the world.
The majority of China’s desertification took place in North, Northwest and Northeast China, and in less-developed areas and regions populated by ethnic minority groups, Xi said.
While recognizing the positive momentum in tackling desertification and land degradation in recent years, Xi stressed that China is still faced with a large area, wide geographical distribution and high level of desertification.
The frequency of sandstorms in northern China has increased in recent years due to climate change, he added.
The president highlighted the period from 2021 to 2030, the sixth phase of the Three-North program, as the key phase for consolidating and expanding achievements in fighting desertification.
He reiterated the need to adopt a holistic approach to conserving mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands and desert, and to prioritize the prevention and control of desertification, as part of broader steps to build up the shield for ecological security in northern China.
He set out a target to develop the Three-North program, which was launched in 1978 to hold back the expansion of the Gobi Desert, into an unbreakable green “Great Wall” within a time span of 10 years. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
