A Brazilian delegation from the Northeast Consortium visited Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, on Aug 29, to explore the city's efforts to combat desertification and promote ecological restoration.

The visit came after Ordos shared its desertification control practices at the Mayors' Forum of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Aug 21. Representatives from Brazil, Mongolia, and Russia expressed interest in visiting Ordos to learn from its experience.

In the Kubuqi Desert, the delegation visited a 420-kilometer shelterbelt along the Yellow River. Once a major source of sediment entering the river, the area has seen annual sediment inflow fall from more than 27 million metric tons to over 4 million tons.

The delegation also toured a photovoltaic desertification-control project that combines solar power generation with planting and livestock farming. Ordos has achieved an installed photovoltaic capacity of 12.84 million kilowatts and restored ecological areas covering 800,000 mu (about 53,333 hectares) in the project's leading section.

Carlos Gabas, executive secretary of the Brazilian Northeast Consortium, said the region shares climatic similarities with Ordos and faces growing land degradation challenges. He expressed hope for deeper cooperation with China in ecological restoration, nature conservation, and renewable energy.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in desertification-control technologies, ecological restoration, and green industries.

Ordos invited the Brazilian delegation to join the 11th Kubuqi International Desert Forum, seeking to turn shared interest into practical cooperation and jointly support global efforts against land degradation.