7. Fourteen years ago, President Xi Jinping said "clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets (绿水青山就是金山银山)". Since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the central government has placed great importance on environmental protection. Great achievements have been made in this area in recent decades through strong measures (措施).
•Fighting desertification (荒漠化防治)
Desertification has been a major challenge for China. In the early 21st century, many parts of the country, including Xinjiang, Gansu and Inner Mongolia, were affected by sandstorms (沙尘暴). They usually happen in deserts. They can do great harm to plants, animals and buildings.
In recent years, the government has tried to prevent deserts from growing in size and bringing more sandstorms. Planting trees has played an important role. China's total forest coverage (覆盖率) rose from 12 percent in the 1980s to 23. 04 now. The total desert coverage has been reduced by an average of 2, 424 square kilometers every year. That's as big as 340, 000 soccer fields.
One example of this is the Mu Us Desert (毛乌素沙漠), one of China's four major deserts. One fourth of the desert has been turned into forest.
•Air pollution control
China has improved its air quality in recent years as efforts to control air pollution take effect.
Back in January 2013, thick smog (雾霾) covered a total area of 2. 7 million square kilometers in cities around China.
To solve this problem, the government took a series of measures to control air pollution, particularly in three major regions:the Beijing﹣Tianjin﹣Hebei cluster, the Yangtze River Delta and the Fenhe﹣Weihe River Plain.