36.6 million hectares reforested during China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025). In the Sahara Desert, fruit trees are growing thanks to a Chinese technology called SHUBAO. This technological transplantation transforms Chinese domestic successes into environmental diplomacy, revealing a new model of South-South cooperation.
China is now deploying its anti-desertification innovations developed in the Taklamakan Desert in service of the Great Green Wall of Africa. This strategy illustrates how Beijing is transforming its internal environmental challenges into geopolitical influence, redefining the terms of international cooperation on the environment.
Key Points
- 549 million mu (36.6 million hectares) of land reforested in China during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025)
- SHUBAO technology tested in the Mauritanian Sahara by Sino-Mauritanian teams
- $170 billion in Chinese loans provided to 49 African countries between 2000 and 2022
- The African Great Green Wall restored only 4 million hectares between 2007 and 2020, far short of the goal of 100 million hectares by 2030
A Chinese Innovation Transplanted to the Sahara
SHUBAO technology, developed by 67-year-old Chinese inventor Zhao Shuhai, collects and stores environmental moisture, releasing it gradually during dry periods to sustain growth with minimal irrigation. A single water charge in SHUBAO can sustain a tree for three to four months.
At the center of the China-Africa Green Technology Park in Mauritania, orange trees and pomegranate trees are taking root in the shifting sands of the Sahara. Local residents affirm that the trees require minimal maintenance and could begin bearing fruit as early as next year.
This experimentation reveals Chinese ambitions to transform its domestic innovations into tools of international influence. SHUBAO was presented at the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 2024. The technology has filed patents in more than 70 countries, including China, the United States, Canada, and certain regions of Africa.
A Chinese Model Forged by 47 Years of Experience
China’s Great Green Wall, launched in 1978, extends 4,000 kilometers across northern China from west to east and involves extensive tree planting, grassland restoration, and sustainable land management practices. By the end of 2024, the project has increased regional forest coverage from 5.05% in 1978 to 13.84%, and reduced desertification by 15%.
China has taken the global lead in achieving “zero growth” in land degradation. Over recent decades, China has expanded its reforestation area by 32 million hectares under a reforestation program and restored 53% of its treatable desertified lands.
This technical expertise is accompanied by a particular philosophy. Unlike conservation models supported by the West, which focus primarily on ecological restoration, the Chinese strategy concentrates on eco-developmentalism, integrating tree planting with large-scale infrastructure, renewable energies, and livelihood transformation.
The African Great Green Wall Seeks a Second Wind
The Great Green Wall was formally adopted by the African Union in 2007 with a plan to restore 100 million hectares of degraded lands from Senegal and Mauritania to Djibouti by 2030. The project managed to restore only 4 million hectares of degraded lands between 2007 and 2020, leaving it far short of its goal to rehabilitate 100 million hectares by 2030.
The Sahara is expanding southward at a rate of 131 meters per day, and within a decade, arid lands will cover an additional 500 kilometers if nothing is done to stop its annual expansion of 48 kilometers. This climate emergency offers China a window of diplomatic opportunity.
In addition to building the pilot demonstration zone, China trained 45 local technicians in greening technologies and created 120 jobs for the local community. In a recent interview with Xinhua, Mauritanian Environment Minister Messouda Baham Mohamed Laghdaf described the park as a “green revolution in preparation” and characterized China as an “irreplaceable” partner.
Green Diplomacy in Service of the New Silk Road
This Sino-African cooperation is part of the broader framework of the New Silk Road Initiative. The Belt and Road Initiative has gained significant traction in Africa since its launch in 2013, with 53 African nations participating to varying degrees. In 2023, African countries received $21.7 billion in BRI investments.
This cooperation is part of China’s Belt and Road environmental cooperation framework. China’s Belt and Road Initiative provides technological and financial support, while the African Great Green Wall project offers regional expertise and coordination.
The Chinese strategy reveals a pragmatic approach to environmental cooperation. Against the backdrop of regenerated deserts and experimental forest stations, delegates witness what Chinese officials and academics call “the Chinese model” of arid land development—a comprehensive approach to desertification control refined by decades of large-scale socio-ecological experimentation.
Tensions Surrounding Technological Dependence
This cooperation raises questions about African technological autonomy. Recent academic analyses indicate that knowledge transfer must account for climatic, social, and economic differences, avoiding the automatic replication of models.
While technologies such as solar-powered irrigation and sand fixation show promise, their implementation in Africa faces logistical and governance challenges. Experts emphasize that practical success depends more on stable financing, effective governance, and local engagement than on formal declarations.
The initiative exposes a philosophical division: African restoration-focused ambitions versus the Chinese eco-developmental model driven by infrastructure. This tension illustrates the challenges of adapting Chinese technological solutions to specific African contexts.
Toward a New Geography of South-South Cooperation
Chinese and African officials and experts have called for stronger scientific and technological cooperation to combat desertification and land degradation. Cooperation between Mauritania and China in combating desertification has become a practical example of South-South cooperation.
This dynamic is transforming traditional patterns of international cooperation. China has always seen itself as a naturally close partner to Africa, and more broadly to the Global South. “As a contracting party in the global struggle against desertification, China has both the responsibility and the commitment to promote these technologies. We are a community with a shared future.”
The success of this Sino-African environmental cooperation could redefine models of technological transfer. Unlike traditional Western approaches often accompanied by strict conditionalities, China proposes a model of technical cooperation that is less constraining but potentially creates new dependencies.
The Mauritanian experience with SHUBAO technology traces the contours of a new geography of environmental innovation, where solutions developed in the Taklamakan find their application in the Sahara, illustrating the rise of technical South-South cooperation.