Exclusive | China, Mongolia to fight sandstorms amid calls to curb economic and ecological harm
- Sandstorms cloaked Beijing and China’s northern regions in March and April and President Xi Jinping demanded urgent action last week
- The Post has learned that following a meeting in China in early May, a Chinese delegation is set to visit Mongolia from later this month to jointly work on solutions
Beijing and Ulaanbaatar have stepped up joint efforts to prevent sandstorms that swept across northern China earlier this year, with a Chinese delegation set to visit Mongolia from later this month to jointly work on solutions, according to information obtained by the Post.
A delegation led by Nyamosor Batkhuu, an environment and green development policy adviser to Mongolian President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh, and forestry department head Byambasuren Oyunsanaa visited China for six days in early May following an invitation from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
During the trip, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding after discussions that took place in China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
A Chinese research team has now been invited to visit Mongolia between June 25 and July 10 to assess desertification issues in Mongolia.
A joint working group will then be formed to facilitate the establishment of the China-Mongolia Cooperation Centre for Combating Desertification in Mongolia, the Post has learned.
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China’s forestry authority will also arrange for Chinese experts to work in the centre, which will be jointly run by the two countries.
And the China International Development Cooperation Agency will support a donation programme, demonstration centres, desertification monitoring stations, joint research and capacity building training for the centre.
China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration did not respond to request for comment.
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment previously attributed the severe sandstorms – which typically hit the capital city and surrounding areas in the spring – to Mongolia.
Desertification, sand and dust storms, as well as soil erosion, cause ecological damage and restrict the economic development of the northern part [of China]
“Desertification, sand and dust storms, as well as soil erosion, cause ecological damage and restrict the economic development of the northern part [of China],” Xi said.
“In the past two years, China’s northern part has experienced more sandstorms due to the impact of climate change. The long-term, difficult and uncertain prevention work is urgent and we need to stay ahead of the curve.”
Sumiya Chuluunbaatar, a non-resident fellow at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of International Studies, said China has been combating desertification and sandstorms in its autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Xinjiang, as well as Gansu province, and that there is a need to strengthen cooperation between Beijing and Ulaanbaatar.
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Hazy spring in Beijing as lingering smog and multiple sandstorms shroud Chinese capital
“The shortage of water resources restricts the development of Mongolia, especially in the southern Gobi region where mining is developed, which requires water resources,” he said.
China’s decades-long experience of its south-to-north water diversion project – that involves drawing water from southern rivers and supplying it to the dry north – will also be relevant to Mongolia, Chuluunbaatar added.
Chuluunbaatar also said a carbon emissions trading system is another potential field for collaboration, as it is an area that has yet to be developed in Mongolia.
Poor vegetation growth in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia causes the sandstorms, which could lead to a loss of 0.27 per cent from Mongolia’s national gross domestic product due to a decline in crop revenues, according to an academic paper by visiting research fellow Hayatullah Ahmadzai at the University of Nottingham.
Increases in the frequency of sand and dust storms could reduce agricultural productivity by between 1.5 per cent to 24 per cent, depending on the crop
“Increases in the frequency of sand and dust storms could reduce agricultural productivity by between 1.5 per cent to 24 per cent, depending on the crop,” he said in the paper that was released in February.
In addition to the joint effort with China, the Mongolian government is also cooperating with mining giant Rio Tinto – the largest foreign investor in the country – to save 1.1 billion trees by 2024 as the country is fighting against climate change and desertification.
The three-year, US$2.3 million Healthy Forest Project, which was launched in 2022, is set to create “resilient forests” that can withstand defoliation and improve their adaptation to pests that can “foster sustainable economic development by providing long-term and healthy forest resources”.
In April, the sandstorms in northern China also shrouded skies from South Korea to Japan, bringing the first yellow dust to Tokyo since 2021.
Xinjiletu Yang, a professor in economics and management at the Inner Mongolia University of Technology, said in a research paper released in July that sand and dust storms will decrease visibility on roads, leading to traffic accidents, while they will also spread harmful substances carried in dust and pollen that induces health issues, in addition to reductions in crop yields.
