The desertification process as a whole has been curbed initially in China. Now 1,283 square kilometers of desert land have been returned to arable land every year through a long period of hard efforts; while at the end of last century, 3,436 square kilometers of land were turned into desert instead, according to the latest monitoring results released by the State Forestry Administration of China. The forestry construction has entered a new stage of green expansion and sand retreat.

The green expansion and sand retreat are the results of long-time unremitting efforts made by the Chinese people in planting trees. The green vegetation areas have surpassed more than 100 million mu (6.67 million hectares) of land for the past three consecutive years. Last year, the green areas planted reached 110 million mu or 7.33 million hectares with the total forestry industrial value exceeding 600 billion yuan. From 2001 on, the area on harnessing sand has amounted to 1.9 million hectares each year in China.

By People's Daily Online