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Supporting National Strategies, Strengthening Northern Green Barrier
In the vast ecologically fragile areas of northern China, desertification, sandstorms, and soil erosion have long been challenges affecting environmental security and people’s livelihoods. To address this critical issue concerning ecological security and regional development, Volkswagen Group China, together with its brands Volkswagen, Audi, ŠKODA, and Bentley, jointly launched the GREEN BELT Afforestation Project with the China Green Foundation in 2021. The project focuses on supporting regions where ecological fragility and underdevelopment are highly coupled. It is closely aligned with key national ecological initiatives such as desertification control, the Three-North Shelterbelt Program, and the ecological protection of the Yellow River’s “Great Bend,” synergistically promoting green livelihoods through large-scale ecological restoration.
Deepening Commitment in Ecologically Fragile Areas, Building a Shared Vision for Sustainable Development
From 2021 to 2030, the GREEN BELT project aims to plant 8.5 million locally suitable trees and restore 40 million square meters of degraded land across 10 ecologically fragile areas in northern and northwestern China. This will help the regions tackle severe environmental challenges such as desertification, sandstorms, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. Through this long-term project, we are not only helping restore the local ecological environment and improve residents’ living conditions but also bringing sustainable development opportunities to local communities, supporting local economic development and rural revitalization, and making green landscapes a bridge for harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.
Five-Year Progress: 20 Million Square Meters of Barren Land Rejuvenated
Over the past five years, the GREEN BELT Project has carried out afforestation and ecological restoration efforts across Gulang and Jinta Counties in Gansu Province, Huzhu County in Qinghai Province, Bayannur in Inner Mongolia, and Zhongwei and Wuzhong in Ningxia Province. A total of more than 4.3 million locally suitable trees and shrubs have been planted, restoring nearly 20 million square meters of ecologically degraded land—an area roughly equal to the combined footprint of Volkswagen Group’s production plants in China.
The project has achieved continuous progress in multiple regions. This has generated long-term ecological benefits for desertification control and environmental improvement. It has also delivered tangible benefits for local livelihoods. It has created income-generating opportunities and improved income levels for low-income communities through sustained tree planting and conservation efforts. As of 2025, the project has created over 186,000 workdays for afforestation and conservation, generating more than RMB 28 million in income for low-income groups, directly benefiting over 350,000 residents in the afforested areas and indirectly improving the living environment for millions more in surrounding areas.
In 2025, the GREEN BELT project was carried out in Zhongning County of Zhongwei and Yanchi County of Wuzhong in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. A total of 918,300 locally suitable plants were planted across the two locations, restoring over 4 million square meters of ecologically degraded land. The project aims to contribute to the management of scattered shifting sandy lands and desertified lands and develop under-forest industries and green livelihoods by planting economic forests. Both regions are national priority areas for desertification control and hold important strategic significance for ecological protection in the Yellow River basin.
The mutually reinforcing efforts in the two regions are foresting a multi-layered, multi-functional ecosystem, effectively driving the synergistic development of ecological restoration and green livelihoods. In Yanchi County, the afforestation focuses on combating desertification, with approximately 406,300 mountain apricots, sandbar willows, and Caragana shrubs planted, creating 17,300 workdays and increasing income for participating low-income communities by RMB 2.6 million. Working closely with local farming cooperatives, the project in Zhongning County planted over 510,000 high-quality goji (wolfberry) seedlings, leveraging local ecological and industrial strengths. This not only supports sustainable cultivation efforts that contribute to ecological restoration, but also provides sustainable income opportunities for local communities through a non-profit model. The implementation site is expected to create approximately 66,000 workdays annually for low-income individuals involved in planting, maintenance, and harvesting, generating a collective annual income of around RMB 9.9 million. Based on an average 15-year harvest cycle for goji, the cumulative income increase is expected to reach RMB 148 million, contributing to the development of a sustainable under-forest economy that generates green income.
In 2024, the GREEN BELT project was implemented in Wulantuke Town, Bayannur, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It planted over 850,000 locally suitable trees, including saxaul and Russian olive, contributing to ecological restoration and stabilizing 4 million square meters of scattered sand around local villages and farmlands. The project also helps block the inflow of sand into the river and safeguards the ecological security of the Yellow River’s “Great Bend.” While improving the local ecological environment, the project created 58,822 workdays, generating RMB 8.82 million in additional income for participating low-income communities. Once the trees mature, the project will also offer long-term benefits by enabling local communities to cultivate valuable medicinal plants such as Cistanche (Rou Cong Rong), further supporting local economic development and rural revitalization.
In 2023, the GREEN BELT project was implemented at a key windbreak and sand-control site in Jinta County, Jiuquan, Gansu Province. This site, located on the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert—one of China’s eight major deserts—is the source and intensification zone for 75% of sandstorms in Jiuquan, which have long affected the local living environment and constrained economic development. The project planted 850,000 locally suitable species, including Euphrates poplar, Russian olive, saxaul, and nitre bush, achieving 4 million square meters of afforestation and desertification control. It effectively supported local targeted control efforts, protecting surrounding farmland and the Heihe River basin from desertification. This initiative directly benefited 120,000 local residents and an additional 20,000 residents downstream along the river, while indirectly benefiting over 1.3 million residents in Jiuquan and Jiayuguan who are persistently affected by sandstorms. During the afforestation period, the project created 4,800 workdays, generating RMB 720,000 in additional income for participating low-income communities.
In 2022, the GREEN BELT project was implemented in Tangchuan Town, Tu Autonomous County of Huzhu, Haidong, Qinghai Province. Approximately 850,000 locally suitable trees, including Qinghai spruce, Chinese pine, and Caragana, were planted, restoring 4 million square meters of severely eroded barren mountainous land. The project significantly improved the local ecological environment and reduced the impact of wind and sand from the barren mountains on local residents, creating a more favorable ecological foundation for sustainable local economic and social development, directly benefiting over 40,000 residents. During the afforestation period, the project created 23,370 workdays, generating RMB 3.5 million in additional income for participating low-income communities and RMB 9.52 million in seedling revenue. In addition, the project donated professional equipment and provided targeted forest management training to empower local forest rangers and support forestry development.
In 2021, the GREEN BELT project was officially launched in Gulang County, Wuwei, Gansu Province, an area adjacent to the southern edge of the Tengger Desert and long threatened by desertification. By planting approximately 850,000 locally suitable plants, including Siberian elm, Caragana, Russian olive, and Hedysarum scoparium, the project created an ecological barrier approximately 26 kilometers long along the Ganwu Railway. It serves as a buffer zone between the southern edge of the Tengger Desert the Huanghuatan Ecological Resettlement Area, effectively preventing the spread of desertification into the resettlement area and protecting local agricultural production and ecological safety. The project also created 16,650 workdays, generating RMB 2.49 million in additional income for participating low-income communities, improving local well-being and supporting local development.
