Great Green Wall continues expanding as ecological efforts advance

Forest coverage has grown to 13.84 percent from 5.05 percent in 1977 in areas where China's Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program (TSFP) was implemented, according to the country's forestry authority.

Launched in 1978, the TSFP is the world's largest forestry ecological project which consists of forestation in 13 provinces in northwest, north and northeast China, in order to hold back the aftermath of sandstorms and soil erosion.

The eight-phase project is expected to be completed by 2050. A total of 30 million hectares of farmland in major grain-producing areas in north and northeast China have been effectively protected by the shelterbelt system, which serves as an important ecological barrier to secure stable and high grain yields.