Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, February 25, 2002
Desert Areas Grows in China
The desert areas are still expanding in China with an average increase of about 10,400 square kilometers per year, according to the monitoring results of China' s State Forestry Administration.
The desert areas are still expanding in China with an average increase of about 10,400 square kilometers per year, according to the monitoring results of China' s State Forestry Administration.
Currently, China has 2.67 million square kilometers of desert land, accounting for 27.9 percent of China's total territory, Monday's Guangming Daily reported.
The results show that China's 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have desertification problems of various degrees.
According to the results, the deserts in China's 10 provinces and autonomous regions, including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Hebei, have made up 97 percent of the country's desert areas.
The results also indicate that the forest shelter belts have played an important role in guarding against desertification, especially the afforestation in "Three North" (northwest, north and northeast) areas as well as the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.