According to People’s Daily Online, desertification is costing China 54 billion yuan every year.
Tang Yuan, general director of the Research Department for Industry, Transportation and Trade, of the State Council Development Research Center, disclosed on November 25 that the direct economic loss from desertification reaches 54 billion yuan every year. This has already affected the lives and productivity of nearly 400 million people.
The Cleaner Green China blog argues that these numbers are under-reporting.
Realistically, given the various unmeasurable costs this number is vastly under reported […] For anyone who follows climate change, and the impact of human beings, it does not require a lot more information to understand the size of the problem that is being faced in China’s Northern territory.
To learn more about the desertification in China, follow CDT’s desertification tag for more articles.