Mongolia is leveraging Chinese green technologies and ecological initiatives to address the challenge of desertification, which affects over 70 percent of its land, while advancing economic development. The efforts coincide with the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Ulaanbaatar from August 17 to 21.

With an economy heavily dependent on mining and livestock farming, Mongolia faces pressing demands to safeguard its fragile grasslands amid industrial growth. Chinese enterprises are supporting Mongolia’s environmental goals, particularly the national One Billion Trees initiative aimed at large-scale reforestation.

Since the inauguration of the China-Mongolia Desertification Prevention and Control Cooperation Center in Ulaanbaatar in September 2023, ecological collaboration between the two countries has expanded. At the Ulan Mine, operated by China Railway Resources Group’s Xinxin Company, advanced green technologies are actively employed. These include a closed-loop tailings water recycling system that reuses nearly all production water, significantly conserving resources and minimizing environmental risks. The mine also introduced Mongolia’s first back-filling mining system to refill underground cavities, thereby preventing surface subsidence and protecting vegetation.

By 2025, Xinxin Company had planted over 12,000 trees and restored dozens of hectares of land near the mine, while preserving more than ten local springs. The operation provides stable employment for over 1,100 workers, with Mongolian nationals comprising more than 90 percent of the workforce. It has also fostered partnerships with more than 30 local enterprises. A local herder, Gankhımig, noted that her family’s income improved markedly after her children found employment at the mine, and they have actively participated in tree-planting activities supported by the company.

Further south in the Gobi Desert, China’s M-Grass Ecology and Environment Group is assisting with a 400-hectare saxaul forest restoration project, another component of Mongolia’s One Billion Trees initiative. The region experiences extreme ecological conditions, including less than 10 percent vegetation cover, annual rainfall around 104 millimeters, and temperature fluctuations from -31.5°C to 42.2°C.

Wang Junfang, technical leader of the project, highlighted the importance of precise planning and planting techniques to improve survival rates of saxaul seedlings. Among adjustments made, the diameter of planting pits was reduced from 40 to 20 centimeters to minimize disruption to the desert environment. Since fieldwork began in May 2025, 80 hectares of forest were planted last autumn, with an additional 200 hectares planned for completion this season through a combination of mechanical digging and manual planting. A 10-hectare research zone has been established to trial over 20 native Mongolian plant species and tailor China’s desert-control technologies to local conditions.

The project employs a water-saving irrigation strategy relying mainly on rainfall. Plans include testing grafting of cistance, a medicinal plant, and conducting carbon sequestration monitoring two years after the trees mature, linking ecological recovery with economic benefits. M-Grass is also collaborating on mine restoration efforts, including an eight-hectare mine-slope rehabilitation pilot.

Mongolia’s Forestry Administration director-general, Oyunsanaa Byambasuren, praised China’s extensive expertise in desertification control, noting its global recognition. The “China Corner” exhibition at COP17’s Blue Zone has offered Mongolia and other participants valuable insights, underscoring the broad potential for bilateral ecological cooperation.

Fan Lijun, director of the Belt and Road Initiative Research Institute at the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences, emphasized that combining Chinese technologies with local Mongolian conditions supports both environmental protection and industrial development. This cooperation is emerging as a significant example of practical collaboration under the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.