Xinjiang, a region in northwest China, is making striking progress in its battle against the Taklimakan Desert, with counties along its fringe transforming some of China’s harshest landscapes through large-scale sand control and ecological restoration. The region has now completed a 3,046-kilometre sand-blocking belt, the world’s longest green barrier around a desert, as part of decades-long efforts to build a protective shield around the Taklimakan.

Over the past year alone, Xinjiang has treated more than 914,000 hectares of desertified land. Counties such as Qiemo, Bachu and Ruoqiang have turned barren expanses into thriving forests and stabilised dunes using techniques ranging from reed barriers to biological sand fixation. 

Alongside restoration, desert agriculture and aquaculture are flourishing: Xinjiang now has over 720,000 hectares of desert-grown economic crops, valued at 4.1 billion US dollars, while places like Hotan County are seeing rapid growth in large-scale crab, bass and lobster farming.

Source: China Central Television