During a video conference on forestry and grassland work held on Feb 4, it was revealed that North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region plans to afforest an area of over 3 million mu (200,000 hectares), plant over 13 million mu of grass, and carry out sand control and desertification treatment on an area of over 15 million mu in 2024, aiming to build an ecological barrier in northern China.

In so doing, in 2024, Inner Mongolia will step up sand control and desertification treatment as well as integrate wind power and photovoltaic projects, striving to achieve high-quality treatment of over 900,000 mu of desertified land with new energy sources.

Efforts will be made to enhance the quality of forestry and grassland construction, including the improvement of forest quality, the development major projects for grassland protection and restoration, and the promotion of afforestation in key areas.

The region will also focus on strengthening the construction of large-scale forest farms, aiming to grow 889,200 mu of forest, restore and manage 5.73 million mu of degraded grassland, afforest 120,000 mu of land in key areas, and carry out ecological construction tasks on 255,000 mu of land in large-scale forest farms throughout the year.

Simultaneously, Inner Mongolia will explore the establishment of a diverse investment mechanism, primarily driven by national investment but with local support and widespread participation from enterprises.