More than 1.74 million square kilometers of the nation's land are desertified, or about 18 percent of China's territory, sources from State Forestry Administration (SFA) said yesterday.

Even worse, the number is increasing at an average speed of 3,436 square kilometers each year.

Desertification has made many rivers and lakes run dry, vegetation shrivel and ground water levels drop, while posing a direct threat to more than 100 million people, a statement from the forestry authority indicates.

The living environment of millions of people has deteriorated by sandstorms that have often hit northern and northwestern China.

Prevention and control of desertification is a strategic issue concerning the nation's ecological security and sustainable development, Xu Jialu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said yesterday.

Xu spoke at a meeting on the 10th World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which falls on June 17. This year's theme is "prevention and control of desertification to increase farmers' income."

He stressed desertification degrades farmland and pastures and leads to the reduction of grain production and aggravates poverty in affected areas.

"Government officials must attach importance to the existing problems and step up efforts to control desertification and make farmers reap benefits," Xu urged.

The SFA, in collaboration with 17 ministries, has carried out a series of projects that hope to prevent the land territory from turning to sand.

They include projects to control dust storms in Beijing and Tianjin and shelter-forest projects in northern, northwestern and northeastern China. Those areas include more than 85 percent of the nation's desertified areas. Authority statistics reveal that, by the end of last year, 20.5 million hectares of desertified land had been saved.

(China Daily June 18, 2004)