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BEIJING, April 28-- China has achieved much progress in environmental protection and taken the lead in green development in recent years. The efforts have exemplified Chinese President Xi Jinping's proposal of "working together for a green and better future for all" made a year ago in his speech at the opening ceremony of the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 Beijing. In the keynote speech, Xi proposed a five-point initiative on promoting green development, namely pursuing harmony between man and nature, pursuing the prosperity based on green development, fostering a passion for nature-caring lifestyle, pursuing a scientific spirit in ecological governance, and joining hands to tackle environmental challenges. China's hard work on environment protection has paid off. The ecological environment has improved significantly. People are enjoying more days of blue sky, cleaner water, and fertile land. China has achieved the goal of zero growth of desertified land by 2030 set by the United Nations ahead of time. Besides, forest stock volume increased by 4.56 billion cubic meters compared with that of 2005. Carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2018 fell by 45.8 percent compared with that of 2005, exceeding the target set for the year. After more than 30 years of hard work, the seventh largest desert in China, the Kubuqi Desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, once known as the "sea of death" difficult for birds to fly across, has turned into a green valley. | 
