The Tenth Kubuqi International Desert Forum kicked off on Sept 16 in Ordos, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, with the theme "Combat Desertification Scientifically, Promote Green Development". 

Over two days, participants from around the world will discuss topics including desertification prevention, grassland protection, sustainable land use, and land-friendly business development, aiming to strengthen international cooperation and advance the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Kubuqi Desert, covering 21.16 million mu (1.41 million hectares) entirely within Ordos, has become a global model for desertification control. Through integrated measures such as green shelterbelts, sand-blocking dams, photovoltaic sand-control projects, and edge-stabilizing forests, the city has reduced the annual sediment flow into the Yellow River from 27 million to 4 million metric tons, raising the desert treatment rate to 40 percent, with a target of 50 percent by 2025.

Innovations like the "PV + Sand Control" model – combining solar power generation with vegetation planting and ecological restoration – have not only curbed desert expansion but also saved 60 million tons of coal equivalent, cut carbon emissions by 170 million tons, and conserved 250 million tons of water annually. Mechanization and new technologies, including drone seeding and tree-planting robots, have boosted efficiency and lowered costs.

Since 2007, the forum has brought together more than 3,000 participants from over 100 countries, fostering international consensus and cooperation on combating desertification. Kubuqi's success has been recognized globally: in 2014, the United Nations Environment Programme named it a "Global Desert Eco-Economy Demonstration Zone", and in 2017, its model was included in a UN declaration as a proven "China solution".

With the forest coverage rate doubled and vegetation stabilized at around 70 percent, Ordos is demonstrating how ecological, economic, and social benefits can align. The Tenth Kubuqi International Forum marks not just another milestone for China's desert governance, but also a starting point for deeper global collaboration in ecological restoration.