Encroaching desert threatens Beijing

The Chinese authorities have launched an emergency programme to prevent the capital, Beijing, from being encroached upon by the nearby desert.

No specific details of the measures have been given, but previous campaigns have included planting new forests around the city and cutting down on overgrazing by cattle.

The desert is currently said to be advancing towards Beijing at a rate of nearly two kilometres a year.

In China as a whole, almost two-and-a-half thousand square kilometres of land are lost annually to expanding deserts.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service