Magical Ordos reaps rewards from new relationship with surrounding deserts

The city of Ordos in northern China is reaping major and long-lasting benefits from having adopted a sustainable approach to fighting desertification, its leading citizen told China Daily. Mayor Gong Mingzhu said in an exclusive interview that the approach was proving beneficial for the restoration of the city’s ecosytem, beneficial to residents’ lives and was conducive to the city’s economic growth. He was speaking in the run-up to the 13th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which will run from Sept 6 to 17.

As the host city of the international event, Ordos, where deserts account for nearly half of its total area, has set a shining example of desertification control, Gong said.

The forests in Ordos covered 2.32 million hectares by the end of 2016, accounting for 26.7 percent of the city's total area. [Photo by Li Genwan/chinadaily.com.cn]