A senior Chinese official has said it
will take 300 years to turn back China's advancing deserts at the current rate
of progress.
Liu Tuo, who leads China's efforts to tackle the problem, said investment was
"seriously insufficient."
More than one quarter of China is either covered by desert or is land that is
suffering desertification.
The process is often caused by overgrazing and other unsuitable farming
techniques.
Authorities worry that expanding deserts could put crops and water supplies
in the world's second largest economy at risk.
But the official leading China's efforts against the problem said not enough
was being done.
Liu Tuo said there was a "huge gap" in the country's efforts, adding that at
current rates it would take 300 years to reclaim land which has recently become
desert.
"There is about 1.73m sq km (0.67m sq miles) of desertified land in China,
and about 530,000 sq km of that can be treated," he said.
"At our present rate of treating 1,717 sq km a year, I've just calculated
we'll need 300 years."
He also warned that global warming could exacerbate the problem by causing
drought.
Most of the desertification in China happens on the fringes of the Gobi
Desert which lies in the west of the country.
