An aerial drone photo taken on April 8, 2025 shows people planting coix at a sand industry experimental base in Yutian County of Hotan Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.(Xinhua/Ding Lei)

URUMQI, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The Taklimakan Desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region covers 337,600 square kilometers and its circumference measures 3,046 kilometers, making it the largest desert in China and the second-largest drifting desert in the world.

Thanks to decades-long sand prevention and control efforts, the Taklimakan Desert was completely encircled with a sand-blocking green belt on Nov. 28, 2024.

In 2025, Xinjiang aims to afforest a land area of about 796,000 hectares, including 562,666 hectares for frontline control in the Taklimakan Desert. These afforestations form a part of the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program, the world's largest afforestation program, which tackles desertification in northwest, north and northeast China.

Meanwhile, Xinjiang will further widen the sand-blocking green belt and enhance desert-locking efforts to achieve sustainable sand control while improving local livelihoods.