In late 2020, a team led by Xu Xianying, a researcher at Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, developed a new generation sand barrier laying machine.

The efficiency is four to six times that of traditional manual operation, and the cost per hectare is reduced by 3,750 yuan (about 526 U.S. dollars), Xu explained.

In the meantime, multiple giant sandstorm observation towers have been erected along the Hexi Corridor. "The towers can monitor data on wind and sand flow, vegetation, soil and hydrology, and send them simultaneously to researchers," said Wang Duoze, an engineer at the institute.

Thanks to the government's decades of desertification control efforts, a once dried-up lake in Minqin County, administered by Wuwei, has been revived and several desert zones are now lush and green.

Results of a new round of national monitoring of desertification unveiled late last year showed that desertified and sandy land in Gansu decreased by 2,627 square km and 1,045 square km, respectively, compared with figures published in 2015.