HOHHOT, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- A high-level meeting of the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was held Monday in the city of Ordos in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The following is a brief introduction to Ordos, host of the conference, which began on Sept. 6.
The coal-rich city is home to the Mausoleum of Genghis Khan (1162-1227), founder of the Mongol Empire. Yet the city, located on a vast prairie, has long been a victim of desertification. The Kubuqi Desert and Maowusu sandy area account for nearly half of the land under its jurisdiction.
Over the past several decades, government-led afforestation efforts, with active participation from enterprises and residents, have successfully stopped the spread of desertification.
In 2016, the forest coverage rate in Ordos reached 26.7 percent, up 14 percentage points from 2000. About 70 percent of Maowusu and 25 percent of the Kubuqi Desert have undergone afforestation.
Kubuqi, the seventh largest desert in China, is a good example of China's success in alleviating desertification. The Kubuqi International Desert Forum has become an important platform for nations to exchange experiences in this regard and in achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Over the past decade or so, China's desertified areas have been shrinking.
More than 2,000 delegates from 196 parties to the convention and over 20 international organizations are attending the two-week conference in Ordos, themed "Combating Desertification for Human Well-being."
