Latest news with #Inner Mongolia
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's campaign to ease local government debt scores first big win in Inner Mongolia
China's debt relief campaign for local governments, launched last year, has delivered its first major success story after Inner Mongolia exited the central government's high-risk list. Advertisement The autonomous region was among 12 province-level jurisdictions flagged by Beijing for risky debt levels, with its exit revealed in a local budget review discussed internally in late July but only released to the public earlier this week. '[We must] consolidate the progress made in exiting the list of key high-debt regions and guide local authorities to continue debt resolution efforts based on local conditions,' according to a statement released by the finance and economic committee of the northern region's People's Congress. Inner Mongolia, the country's top coal miner and a major supplier of renewable energy and dairy products, had previously been forced to shelve a subway project in Baotou – the region's second-largest city – because of financial risks. Local government debt, which accumulated after the 2008 global financial crisis , is widely seen as a ticking time bomb. It reached 51.95 trillion yuan (US$7.23 trillion) by the end of June, government data showed, driven by years of aggressive borrowing, especially through local government financing vehicles. Advertisement The model has become increasingly unsustainable, particularly as fiscal revenue from land sales has declined. In September 2023, the State Council issued a directive targeting 12 high-risk province-level areas and called for debt control and restructuring over the following two years, along with support measures.
Malay Mail
31-07-2025
- General
- Malay Mail
The 10th Kubuqi International Desert Forum to Open: Ordos Becomes a Beacon of Green Hope for the World
An oasis in Kubuqi Desert, Hangjin Banner, Ordos Shuofang New Energy Mega-Base in Kubuqi Desert, Hangjin Banner, Ordos ORDOS, CHINA - Media OutReach Newswire - 31 July 2025 - From September 8 to 9, 2025, the 10th Kubuqi International Desert Forum will convene in Ordos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. As a vital international exchange platform for desertification prevention and control, this forum, with the theme "Scientific Desertification Control, Green Development", will host delegates from international organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UNCCD Secretariat, as well as government officials, experts, and scholars from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and other regions, to jointly explore innovative approaches to desertification prevention and control. Beyond showcasing Ordos' success in desertification control, this gathering will share Chinese wisdom and solutions in the fields of ecological restoration and sustainable development with the global China's seventh-largest desert, Kubuqi was once branded as the "Sea of Death". However, after decades of scientific desertification control, this area has undergone a fundamental ecological transformation. According to statistics, Kubuqi's desertification control rate surged from 7% to 40% in 2024, with ambitious targets of 50% by 2025 and 70% by 2030. Central to this success is a 420-kilometer northern shelterbelt integrated with a "four-pillar desertification prevention" system, combining photovoltaic arrays, silt dams and other measures. These interventions have reduced soil erosion by 5.7 million mu (380,000 hectares) since 1995, raised soil-water conservation efficiency to 61.4%, and prevented 300 million tons of sediment from entering the Yellow River over the past transformation is driven by the pioneering "PV + Desertification Control" model. Within the Kubuqi Desert, 10.02 gigawatts of solar capacity now doubles as an ecological restoration engine across approximately 46,700 hectares of rehabilitated desert land. The integrated system delivers three-dimensional benefits, namely clean energy generation atop panels, sustainable agriculture beneath them, and livestock grazing between arrays. This approach has simultaneously increased green energy production and ecological recovery while lifting average incomes by over 30,000 RMB through "work-relief programs". Landmark projects like Dalad Banner's "Steed Solar Park", where 196,000 photovoltaic panels form a galloping horse design, have become a Chinese landmark in the global fight against success in desertification control stems from its holistic "ecosystem integration" philosophy applied through "four strategic measures" in the campaign to address the ecological challenges at the Yellow River's "Great Bend":Financial Integration: Strategic allocation of 14.9 billion RMB to priority projects including desert-marginal forests and PV-controlled rehabilitation zones. Technological Integration: Accelerated iteration and upgrading of desertification control models and technologies, achieving a 60% field application rate of forestry and grassland technologies. Benefit Integration: Balancing desert control with increasing the income of farmers and herdsmen by allocating 16% of key project funds to "work-relief programs" and issuing Inner Mongolia's first forest carbon credit certificate. Collaborative Integration: Unprecedented mobilization of resources including over 30 state-owned enterprises such as China Three Gorges Corporation, CHN Energy, and Inner Mongolia Energy Investment Group, over 100 private enterprises and non-profit organizations such as Yitai Group, Mengtai Group, and Ant Foundation, over 500 engineering teams and cooperatives, and 25,000 farmers and the Kubuqi model now crosses borders through technical exchanges with Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, and other nations. The Kubuqi model, as remarked on by the UNEP, is a replicable template for global desertification desertification control efforts have not only reshaped its ecology but also invigorated its economy. Annually, Ordos establishes over approximately 66,667 hectares of new plantations of caragana shrubs, drought-resistant species crucial for stabilizing sandy soils. This brings the total conserved caragana grassland to over approximately 933,333 hectares. Local processing facilities convert caragana shrubs into 35,000 tons of livestock feed and 10,000 tons of biofuel annually, creating economic value from ecological restoration. In former coal-mining subsidence zones, "New Energy and Ecological Regeneration" integrated demonstration bases now operate where solar arrays power adjacent sustainable farms. In 2024, the city achieved a total output value of 7.5 billion RMB from forestry and grassland, and established 190,000 hectares of carbon-sequestering forests, equivalent to 2.6 times the land area of Singapore, standing as tangible proof that clear waters and green mountains are invaluable deserts once advanced, greenery now prevails. Where land lay wounded, sustainable economies now thrive. Ordos proves by action that desertification prevention and control and high-quality development can resonate in 10th Kubuqi International Desert Forum convenes amid escalating global desertification challenges. According to the UNCCD Secretariat's latest data, 40% of the land around the world is now degraded, impacting nearly half of humanity. The practice of Ordos delivers a compelling case for achieving the UNCCD's Kubuqi to Riyadh, from the Yellow River to the Sahara Desert, China's scientific solutions are promoting global ecological recovery. The 10th Kubuqi International Desert Forum will open a new chapter in global desertification prevention and control. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China advances energy security with first output from major uranium project
China has produced its first barrel of natural uranium from its largest domestic project, dubbed the 'National No 1 Uranium' demonstration project, according to an announcement by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Launched last year in the Ordos basin of northern Inner Mongolia, this project is located in a region known for containing the country's most significant natural uranium reserves. State news agency Xinhua reported that the milestone demonstrates a "green, safe, intelligent and efficient" mining approach. The breakthrough is expected to enhance China's competitiveness in uranium production, supporting its push for greater energy security and contributing to its broader green transition goals in the nuclear power sector. For the first time, China is shifting its uranium production hub from the central Jiangxi province to the country's northern regions. Historically, uranium mining centered on volcanic and granite deposits near Lean in Jiangxi, but over the past two decades, large sandstone-type uranium deposits have been discovered in northern China, particularly in Inner Mongolia. These deposits were once dismissed as 'dull mines' with no economic potential due to technical limitations. However, current advanced in situ leaching technology has made it possible to overcome these challenges, turning previously inaccessible resources into viable supplies for China's nuclear energy needs, the South China Morning Post reported. Yuan Xu, chairman of China National Uranium Corporation, a subsidiary of CNNC, said the project represents a new era for uranium mining in the country. He explained that it incorporates modern practices, such as rigorous environmental protection measures, remote-controlled machinery to reduce risks for workers, intelligent data analysis to guide operations, and process improvements aimed at boosting both quality and efficiency. According to reports in the Chinese media, the project was built in record time, taking only one year from groundbreaking to completion. In 2023, China announced 10 major uranium discoveries with estimated resources of over 2.8 million tonnes, six of which are located in Inner Mongolia. Unlike the sandstone deposits in the north, uranium reserves in Jiangxi are richer but embedded in granite, requiring traditional mining and processing methods. In contrast, sandstone deposits typically contain lower and more dispersed uranium concentrations, which made extraction uneconomical with older technologies. Experts from the China National Uranium Corporation compared in situ leaching to an intravenous drip, explaining that a solution is injected into the underground ore bed through wells, dissolving the uranium directly, and the uranium-rich liquid is then pumped to the surface for processing. Traditional acid or alkali leaching methods caused significant environmental damage, but this new approach uses an aqueous carbon dioxide-oxygen solution, which greatly reduces harm. Experts emphasized that the process involves no tunneling, causes no ecological damage, and produces no radioactive waste discharge. According to the China Energy Research Society, China ranks first in the world for total nuclear power generation capacity, including units operating, under construction, or officially approved.
South China Morning Post
13-07-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Will China's ‘no tunnel, no toxic waste' uranium mine be a nuclear energy game changer?
China has made a breakthrough in uranium mining and processing by unlocking complex sandstone deposits once seen as too challenging to develop, as Beijing ramps up efforts towards a green transition and energy security. The country's largest natural uranium project had yielded its first barrel, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced on Saturday. The 'National No 1 Uranium' demonstration project was launched a year ago in the Ordos basin of northern Inner Mongolia, home to China's largest natural uranium deposits. State news agency Xinhua said the successful mining marked a 'green, safe, intelligent and efficient' approach that would boost China's competitiveness in the natural uranium sector. It also signifies a shift in China's uranium production centre, from central Jiangxi province to the north. While uranium mining in China has traditionally focused on volcanic and granite deposits around Lean in Jiangxi province, sandstone-type uranium deposits have been uncovered over the past two decades in northern China, particularly Inner Mongolia.
