China has recorded fewer and weaker spring sandstorms over the past two decades, after decades of efforts to curb desertification, official data released on Sunday showed.
The average number of spring sandstorms, a recurring weather hazard across northern China particularly between March and May, fell from 12.5 times a year two decades ago to 9.6 times in recent years, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, which released the data to mark the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms.
The decline is closely linked to years of ecological restoration efforts, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, an afforestation initiative launched in 1978 to curb desertification and improve the ecological environment in northern China.
Under the program, a total of 32 million hectares of forests have been planted and preserved, and 85.3 million hectares of degraded grasslands have been restored. In regions covered by the program, the forest coverage ratio has risen from 5.05 percent in 1978 to 13.84 percent today.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China rehabilitated 10.1 million hectares of sandy land. This year alone, the central government has allocated 27.7 billion yuan (about 4.07 billion U.S. dollars) to support 328 restoration projects covering more than 6.3 million hectares.
Data showed that the area of sandy land, which had expanded by an average of 343,333 hectares annually at the end of the last century, is now decreasing by an average of around 666,667 hectares a year. Wind erosion across China's eight major deserts and four major sandy lands has declined by about 40 percent since 2000.
China has also stepped up cooperation with other countries through training programs, technology exchanges and joint projects, sharing its experience in combating desertification and mitigating sand and dust hazards.
The United Nations General Assembly designated July 12 as the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms in 2023, and proclaimed 2025-2034 as the "United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms" one year later.
China sees fewer spring sandstorms after decades of anti-desertification efforts
The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core keeps tightening the "cage of institutions" in Party building, which provides strong guarantees for advancing the cause of building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernization.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress held in 2012, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core included tightening Party discipline into the integrated plan on Party building in the new era, coordinating efforts to ensure that officials do not have the audacity, opportunity, or desire to be corrupt.
Full and rigorous Party self-governance has been continuously extended to the grassroots level.
In 2024, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision started a nationwide campaign on addressing misconduct and corruption directly affecting the public.
Ping'an Village in Longquanyi District of Chengdu City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, recently completed constructions of new drainage outlets and ditches, and now heavy rain no longer disrupts traveling of the locals. The fund for the constructions was recovered from money that was embezzled by village officials.
"The money was recovered, and now the problem of rainwater accumulation has been solved. And the environment is getting better and better," said villager Wang Yuangang.
Since 2012, the Party has formulated or revised an unprecedented number of internal regulations, building a comprehensive framework of rules to confine power in "a cage of institutions".
"Why establishing rules? Fundamentally, it is to ensure that Party members and officials always keep in mind who they are, for whom they work, and on whom they rely," said Song Wei, researcher with the Institute for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Tsinghua University.
"We must uphold the principle that everyone is equal before rules and regulations, no one enjoys privileges in terms of compliance, and no exceptions are allowed in their enforcement, thus making sure that rules and regulations truly become live 'high-voltage lines'," said Li Li, deputy head of the School of Discipline Inspection and Supervision of China University of Political Science and Law.
Xi also launched an unprecedented anti-corruption storm that has swept every corner of public office, netting both high-ranking "tigers" and lower-level "flies". The anti-corruption campaign has continued unabated, with Xi stressing that the fight is an ongoing endeavor.
From January to September this year alone, discipline inspection and supervisory authorities filed more than 800,000 cases, including those against 73 officials at provincial and ministerial level or above, with 680,000 people receiving punishment, including 105 officials at provincial and ministerial level or above.
"The fight against corruption in the new era has been unprecedentedly forceful with clear effects. At the same time, we must recognize that the fight against corruption remains severe and complex, and the task of eradicating the breeding grounds and conditions for corruption remains arduous. Experience has taught us that anti-corruption is a major political endeavor that we cannot afford to lose and must never lose. We cannot pause for even a moment, nor can we retreat a single step. We must carry the anti-corruption fight through to the end," said Sun Songtao, deputy director of the case supervision and management office of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision.
CPC keeps tightening "cage of institutions" in Party building
