Since 2012, Ordos city in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has been exploring a high-quality green development path that prioritizes environmental protection, helping the city to win the honorable title of “City with the Most Competitiveness in Ecological Environment in China.”

Over a 30-year period, the sandy area of the Kubuqi Desert, the seventh-largest desert in China, has been reduced by 29 percent. Also, the height of the desert’s sand dunes has dropped by 50 percent compared to 30 years ago, according to research conducted by a scientific investigation team led by the Chinese Academy of Forestry.

At present, the total forested area in Ordos has reached 35.2 million mu, with a forest coverage rate of 27 percent.

Meanwhile, the city's average grassland vegetation coverage rate has reached 50 percent. Desertification control has won Ordos the honorable title of a “national model city for greening.”

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the forest and grassland construction areas in Ordos, and the treatment area of land suffering from desertification in the city, ranked among the top cities and leagues in Inner Mongolia.

The coverage rates of forest and grassland plants have both achieved growth and desertification has been reduced.