Cash crops revive land once ruined by mining

By growing cash crops, the amount of stony desert in Liupanshui, Guizhou province, has shrunk over the past decade, bringing its spread under control, Li Zaiyong, a National People's Congress deputy from Guizhou and Liupanshui's Party chief, said during the NPC's annual session.

With about 61 percent of its land covered by karst landform, which is characterized by porous limestone with deep fissures, Guizhou is more affected by stony desertification than anywhere else in China. Liupanshui is one of Guizhou's most desertified areas.

In the 1990s, about 45 percent of the city's land was desertified due to overmining and deforestation.