STORY: Int'l students learn China's experience in fighting desertification
DATELINE: June 17, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:32
LOCATION: YINCHUAN, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Baijitan national nature reserve
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): MOHAMMED ABDULKAREM, Yemeni student, Ningxia Medical University
3. various of the Baijitan national nature reserve
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): DAVIES MUNASHE, Zimbabwean student, Ningxia Medical University

STORYLINE:

Saturday marks the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, a United Nations observance.

On Friday, international students from 14 countries paid a visit to the Baijitan national nature reserve in China's Ningxia to learn about China's experience in combating desertification.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): MOHAMMED ABDULKAREM, Yemeni student, Ningxia Medical University
"We'd like to learn about China's measures for desertification prevention and control. As I've come here, I've seen that the achievements are really great."

Located on the southwest edge of the Mu Us Desert, Baijitan was once a barren land back in the 1950s.

Over the past 70 years, with the unremitting efforts of experts, local residents and volunteers, 680,000 mu (45,333 hectares) of forests have been built, raising the forest coverage rate to 41 percent.

The afforestation has effectively curbed the expansion of the desert and is seen as a miracle in the history of sand control in China.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): DAVIES MUNASHE, Zimbabwean student, Ningxia Medical University
"Today, I had the opportunity to visit the desert and see the development that China has been doing in order to make it into an oasis. I can say that I'm happy to see the changes, the development, the fresh air, and how they are managing to break the weeds so that the grass can grow. So I think personally, I've learned a lot and I think it's a learning curve that every country should take so that we can better the world and better every place."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Yinchuan, China.
(XHTV)