Shi Guangyin of Shaanxi has spent decades fighting desertification in Mu Us Desert

In the 1980s, China experienced a massive economic boom with the introduction of the reform and opening-up policy.

Unlike many people who ventured into business, Shi Guangyin, a villager from Dingbian county, Shaanxi province, established a sand-control company, beginning his lifelong career in regreening.

"The only thing I'm devoted to in my life is anti-desertification through afforestation," he said. Now 69, Shi said he made an oath to take up the challenge as a child.

Dingbian sits on the edge of the Mu Us Desert－one of four major deserts in China, covering an area of 42,200 square kilometers.

In the early decades after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, environmental degradation made life near the desert increasingly harsh. Sandstorms inundated the area, forcing the residents to abandon their homes and farmland as they gradually became buried.

"A friend of mine was killed by a sandstorm when I was 7 years old. I set up a company because of him initially," Shi said. "But over the decades, I planted countless trees and gradually fell in love with those green lives. They are brave and strong, like our (Communist Party of China) members."

In 1978, when the central government issued a policy supporting afforestation projects in North China, aiming to curb desertification and soil erosion, Shi and a few other villagers got involved.

At first, he and six partners signed a contract with the township government to oversee 200 hectares of desert. To raise money to buy saplings, Shi sold his sheep and took out loans from rural credit cooperatives. With the help of rains, 87 percent of the saplings survived.

In 1984, he set up a sand-control company.

During the first few years, Shi encountered many challenges. His company contracted more than 1,000 plots of barren land covering 3,900 hectares, and 90 percent of the saplings they planted were killed by strong winds.

"We gained precious experience from the failure at the very beginning," Shi said.

Afterward, they came up with the idea of building sandproof barriers, planting shrubs alongside the saplings to protect them.

About 87 percent of those saplings survived.

Shi's company contracted more areas of barren and alkaline land. One of the locations, Haiziliang village in Bainijing town, has become a modern agricultural demonstration area.

The hard work has paid off. The annual income of the village's farmers has increased from 300 yuan in 1984 to more than 30,000 yuan ($4,646) now.

Over the years, Shi's company turned 20,000 hectares of barren land green. Thanks to his leadership, forest coverage in Dingbian has risen from 3.8 percent in 1980 to 33.5 percent today.

In addition, Shi opened a sand-control exhibition, providing free environmental education to local people and training forestry technicians.

In 2002, he was honored as the country's first "national desertification-control hero" for his efforts.

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the CPC, Shi was awarded the July 1 Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the Party to outstanding members.

As China steps into a new development period guided by the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), Shi said the focus in the next five years is to improve forest quality.

"By following scientific forestation plans, we will see a more beautiful countryside decorated in green all year round," he said.