UN expert: Nation's effort to fight desertification worthy of praise

China's ongoing success in transforming barren deserts into productive land should be emulated worldwide, especially by countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, said a leading environmental protection expert with the United Nations.

Recalling the "green miracle" in the Kubuqi Desert, China's seventh-largest desert, Erik Solheim, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said he was impressed by the collective efforts that thousands of people have made.

The total area of greenery in the desert has expanded by more than 6,000 square kilometers in the past three decades, according to government data from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.