HOHHOT -- North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has treated 66.88 million mu (about 4.46 million hectares) of desertified land over the past five years, an area equivalent to 2.7 times the size of Beijing, according to the regional forestry and grassland bureau.

The achievement constitutes more than 40 percent of China's total desertification control from 2021 to 2025, reinforcing the ecological security barrier in northern China.

Inner Mongolia, home to four major deserts and four extensive sandy lands, is one of the areas most severely affected by desertification in China.

Authorities have pursued an integrated approach to ecosystem management in the region. Desertification control measures include establishing a dedicated fund, promoting public participation through incentive-based models, adopting new equipment and techniques, and applying new methods such as photovoltaic-based sand stabilization.

Thanks to such efforts, the region's forest coverage rate has reached 21.98 percent -- up 1.19 percentage points since 2021. Also, grassland vegetation coverage in the region remains above 45 percent.