Cross-border friendship shines at World Food Forum

China's green hero Yin Yuzhen reunited with her American friend Ronald Sakolsky at the World Food Forum in Rome, Italy, on Tuesday.

Yin is a desert control worker renowned for her decades of desertification control efforts in Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, in China.

In the 1980s, Yin and her husband relocated deep into the desert. They have since planted nearly 7 million trees, and her family has established protective forest barriers across more than 3,300 hectares of arid land.

Over 20 years ago, Sakolsky, a US teacher who once taught in China, was instrumental in securing funds that helped Yin transform a barren wasteland into a green belt.

In August this year, Sakolsky visited China and reconnected with Yin after 26 years. He said he wants to extend that friendship by encouraging others to reach out to China and the world.

The flagship event of the World Food Forum 2026 will be held from Oct 8 to 16 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome.