When Guo Chengwang started to plant trees in the Mu Us Desert in northwest China's Shaanxi Province almost 40 years ago, he did not expect his efforts to combat desertification to last.

Though just one of the 1,200 saplings he planted in 1985 survived, Guo said he was still excited to find that poplars could grow in the desert.

In the 1980s, "the desolated land was covered with sand dunes," recalled Guo, referring to the Mu Us Desert, one of the four major sand expanses in China. "Nothing else."

"Not even any grass in sight," added Guo Jianjun, grandson of Guo Chengwang. "The sandstorms were so strong that you could barely open your eyes."

The junior Guo is now continuing the legacy of his grandfather, who died in 2023, helping turn 3,000 hectares of uncultivated desert into land covered by green plants.

Thanks to such efforts, generation after generation, more than 80 percent of the sand-covered land in the desert has been brought under control, with the forestation rate reaching 30 percent, according to Xinhua.

Following nature's laws

"All things that grow live in harmony and benefit from the nourishment of Nature."

This is an ancient Chinese proverb from "Xunzi," the Confucian classic. Xunzi was a renowned Chinese philosopher during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and his eponymous book is a compilation of his writings.

Quoting the proverb at the Leaders Summit on Climate in April 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of learning from ancestors' wisdom to respect the laws of nature and to promote harmony between man and nature.

Mother Nature is the cradle of all living beings, including humans, and it provides everything essential for humanity to survive and thrive, said Xi.

"Mother Nature has nourished us, and we must treat nature as our root, respect it, protect it and follow its laws," he said in a speech titled "For Man and Nature: Building a Community of Life Together."

The Guo family's work to combat desertification in the Mu Us Desert is just one of the countless innovative environmental success stories in China over the past decades.

For instance, the world's largest man-made forest has been grown in Saihanba in north China's Hebei Province, and a Chinese model of sand control has been created by greening and transforming the vast desert in Kubuqi, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

According to data from China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration, 23.3 million hectares of grassland were improved through grass planting and 12 million hectares of land saved from desertification from 2018 to 2023.

Every generation has its own mission and the efforts to conserve the ecosystem will benefit not only this generation, but many more to come, said Xi.

"Let us act now, start with ourselves, and make sure that the baton of conservation will be passed on," he added.