China completes green barrier to prevent Tenggar Desert eastward expansion

China on Monday completed a 153-kilometer-long sand-blocking green belt along the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert, the country's fourth largest desert, marking a milestone of its major ecological project aimed at curbing sandstorms.

The green barrier belt stretches from Taiyangliang Township in Zhongning County to Yingshuiqiao Town in Shapotou District of Zhongwei City in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, forming a sand-blocking strip between 10 and 38 kilometers wide.

Started in June 2023, the sand-blocking belt is designed to prevent the desert's eastward encroachment and protect surrounding farmland, towns, infrastructure, as well as the Yellow River.

Over the past two years, local authorities have worked with research institutions to apply new technologies in sand control.

"In particular, we invented a weaving machine to make straw stripes. What we see now are the mechanically woven straw stripes. They're highly effective. The straw checkerboards can last for more than six years, increasing efficiency by 60 percent," said Tang Ximing, a senior forest engineer of Zhongwei's Forestry Farm.

Zhongwei plans to complete 1.18 million mu (about 78,700 hectares) of desertification control this year, with 550,000 mu (about 36,700 hectares) already treated.

"Grass seeds have been sowed before the rainy season to control sand through vegetation coverage. This year, the forest coverage is expected to reach 9.38 percent, while the grassland vegetation coverage could rise to 58.2 percent this year," said Liu Tianping, director of Zhongwei Forestry and Grassland Bureau.

The construction of the green barrier belt in Ningxia dates back to the 1950s when the straw checkerboard approach was invented to protect the Baotou-Lanzhou Railway, China's first desert railway.

Over the past two years, 2.6 billion yuan (about 363 million U.S. dollars) of investment has been made in the construction of the green barrier belt, part of China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, the world's largest afforestation program to tackle desertification.

China completes green barrier to prevent Tenggar Desert eastward expansion

China completes green barrier to prevent Tenggar Desert eastward expansion

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.

The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.

Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.

A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting