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Seventeen years on the streets, living and working with the people of China, Jeff
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Every Arbor Day, Chinese President Xi Jinping shows his people how serious Baba Beijing is about land greening. Have you ever seen your country’s president do the same?
This is a very interesting collection of articles going back chronologically from right now until 2018, when I wrote an article about how China was planting new forests at the equivalent of one Ireland a year, which they have done for a number of years since. I’ve been following Baa Beijing’s land greening ever since.
Since then, China has expanded its forest coverage for 40 consecutive years. It is Number One in global greening, which includes everything from gardens, parks and forests to reclaiming deserts, etc. They have restored 3.7 million square kilometers in just the last five years, which is well more than the land area of India!
Every year, all leaders in China on Arbor Day in April go out and make a big fanfare of planting trees. Everybody from Xi Jinping, the President, the entire Politburo, National People’s Congress members, State Council members, provincial governors, city mayors, plus millions of Chinese citizens join them and ceremonially plant trees to expand China’s greenery.
I can speak from experience, citing some of the places mentioned below.
When I wrote my first book of The China Trilogy, 44 Days Backpacking in China (see Trilogy links below), I hiked in the Helan Mountains, also hiked through Gansu Province and saw all of this with my own eyes. Since then, Evelyne and I have traveled in Qinghai Province and on the Tibetan Plateau. Last year, Amir Khan and I were in Shaanxi Province, which is a very deserty, dry area in northwest China. Therefore, all of us have seen what these articles are describing.
Evelyne, Amir and I have been driven by car-share drivers many thousands of kilometers, and many more thousands of klicks in high-speed trains across many provinces in China over the last three years. One of the things that just gobsmacks us is the forestation and land greening, compared to what I saw back in the 1990s, before they really got serious about doing something about it. This includes the Loess Plateau, which we saw, now completely covered in greenery. Back when I was there in the 1990s, it was thousands of square kilometers of moonscape.
This is for real.
This is why China is the greenest, most ecological, most environmentally friendly country in the world. It goes all the way down to cities and towns. Tree-lined streets with huge sycamores or plantains everywhere you go, gardens everywhere you go, even down to small towns and villages, which have public parks and tree-lined streets. Shenzhen, which is north of Hong Kong, has 50% of its land area in greenery. That’s not uncommon for other cities too.
Everywhere you turn there’s parks, parks, parks. That’s why it’s such a pleasant place to be, and that’s why it’s such a pleasant place to travel. Not to mention that it’s spanking clean. Everywhere you go, the sidewalks and streets are just spotless, which is also very environmental.
Enjoy reading the summaries. There’s a lot in the 12 articles, thus I took the trouble to do the summaries for you. If you want to read one of the articles, I have a link for each one on People’s Daily
Take care, Jeff in Sinoland
12 Article Summaries on China’s Land Greening, 2026-2018
1-Title: China sees sustained progress in land greening
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30051685183
Date: March 20, 2026
5-point summary:
- Forest area and stock volume have grown for 40 consecutive years.
- Forest area hits 241 million ha (hectares = 2,410,000km2), coverage over 25% of the country.
- China is the world’s fastest-growing contributor to global greening.
- 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025): 36,600,000 ha (366,000km2) afforested, wetlands and desertified land restored.
- Ecosystem services value exceeds ¥30,000,000,000,000 (€3,753,000,000,000) forest food and ecotourism boom.
2-Title: Posters: China’s remarkable achievements in land greening for 2024
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30048491858
Date: March 12, 2025
5-point summary:
1. 45 million ha (445,000km2) afforested in 2024.
2. 78 million ha (780,000km2) desertified land treated.
3. 22 million ha (220,000km2) grassland improved.
4. Forest coverage over 25%, stock volume over 20 billion m³.
5. Highway greening, urban greenways and pocket parks built at scale.
3-Title: China to complete the greening of 6.7 million hectares of land in 2024
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30044214354
Date: April 3, 2024
5-point summary:
- 2024 target: 7 million ha (70,000km2) land greening = one Ireland.
- Spring afforestation underway nationwide.
- Past decade: 112 million ha (1,120,000km2) greened; forest area 231 million ha (2,310,000km2).
- Forest coverage over 24%, plantation area world No.1.
- China accounts for over 1/4 of global new afforestation.
4-Title: Green efforts transform once barren land into oasis
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30001258806
Date: June 17, 2023
5-point summary:
- Gansu uses PV + sand control to green deserts.
- PV panels shade plants; efficient irrigation boosts survival.
- Straw checkerboards effectively curb desertification.
- Tech adopted to lower rising sand-control labor costs.
- Green barriers built; locals gain ecological and economic benefits.
5-Title: China’s land-greening efforts gain ground in 2020: report
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30001200277
Date: March 13, 2021
5-point summary:
- 77 million ha (770,000km2) forest added in 2020 = one Ireland.
- 83 million ha (830,000km2) grassland ecology improved.
- Desertification control over 2.09 million ha (20,900km2).
- Farmland returned to forest/grassland: 827,000 ha (8,270km2).
- Grazing bans on 82 million ha (820,000km2) grassland; degraded forests restored.
6-Title: Green lands cover more areas of China with efforts of volunteers across China
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/photos/er/30001263064
Date: March 12, 2021
5-point summary:
- Volunteers drive nationwide afforestation on Tree Planting Day.
- Photos show greening in deserts, mountains and villages.
- Public, including children and officials, join tree-planting.
- Deserts like Kubuqi become greener via sand control.
- Eco-friendly mindset spreads across society.
7-Title: Ecological forests turn abandoned land green
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/photos/er/30001270825
Date: June 18, 2021
5-point summary:
- Public welfare forests in Qinghai turn abandoned land green.
- Taibao forests show strong restoration effect in Gonghe County.
- Trees thrive on formerly degraded land.
- Afforestation improves local ecological environment.
- Visual proof of China’s barren-to-green transformation.
8-Title: Barren land into oasis: Afforestation brings green back to Tibet
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/photos/er/30001425952
Date: July 27, 2021
5-point summary:
- Afforestation succeeds in Xizang (Tibet) in recent years.
- Green corridors built along Yarlung Zangbo River.
- Local people plant saplings in desert zones.
- Wildlife thrives in restored nursery areas.
- Barren landscapes turn into vibrant green ecosystems.
9-Title: NW China’s Shaanxi province turns Mu Us Desert into green land
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30001181985
Date: August 12, 2020
5-point summary:
- Yulin, Shaanxi, greens Mu Us Desert via large-scale control.
- Desert becomes forests, farmland and national forest parks.
- Teams and individuals persist in desert control for years.
- Demonstration zones show effective sand-fixing models.
- Ecological improvement supports local vitality and development.
10-Title: Helan Mountains’ over-exploited mining wounds turn to green lands
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30001398712
Date: November 23, 2021
5-point summary:
- Helan Mountains restored from rampant mining to green areas.
- Many mining sites closed; investment near 10 billion yuan (€1.251 billion).
- Abandoned mines turned into vineyards, parks and eco-tourism spots.
- Wine industry boosts local employment and income.
- Balances ecological restoration and sustainable economic development.
11-Title: Xi stresses people-centered approach in land greening programs
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/headline/er/30001349993
Date: April 2, 2018
5-point summary:
- Emphasizes people-centered greening development.
- Calls equal attention to quantity and quality in afforestation.
- Advocates scientific, ecological, frugal greening path.
- Urges officials to lead voluntary tree-planting nationwide.
- Links greening to building Beautiful China and improving livelihoods.
12-Title: China to push forward land greening campaign
https://peoplesdaily.pdnews.cn/china/er/30001281644
Date: November 20, 2018
5-point summary:
- Plan targets 23.04% forest coverage by 2020.
- Forest stock volume goal: 5 billion m³ by 2020.
- Grassland vegetation coverage aim: 56% by 2020.
- Plan to rehabilitate 10 million ha (100,000km2) desertified land = one Iceland.
- Push ecological restoration, public participation and stricter protection.
Further reading
60 Seconds over Sinoland-China to plant an Ireland of forests in 2018! China Rising Radio Sinoland 180129
State of the Chinese Union 2025: based on five months recently journeying across the country’s backwoods + 16 years living there. Speech given to Samui Real, Thailand, 13 August 2025
Xi urges mobilizing whole society in tree-planting efforts
References
Hyperlinks are noted above for each article.
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Praise for The China Trilogy:
Why and How China works: With a Mirror to Our Own History
JEFF J. BROWN, Editor, China Rising, and Senior Editor & China Correspondent, Dispatch from Beijing, The Greanville Post
Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy. It consists of 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); Punto Press released China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015). Jeff is a Senior Editor & China Correspondent for The Greanville Post, where he keeps a column, Dispatch from Beijing and is a Global Opinion Leader at 21st Century. He also writes a column for The Saker, called the Moscow-Beijing Express. Jeff writes, interviews and podcasts on his own program, China Rising Radio Sinoland, which is also available on YouTube, Stitcher Radio, iTunes, Ivoox and RUvid. Guests have included Ramsey Clark, James Bradley, Moti Nissani, Godfree Roberts, Hiroyuki Hamada, The Saker and many others. [/su_spoiler]
Jeff can be reached at China Rising, [email protected], Facebook, Twitter, Wechat (+86-19806711824/Mr_Professor_Brown, and Line/Telegram/Whatsapp: +33-612458821.
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[google-translator]
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