Chinese Government finances the International Training Course on Ecological Construction and Sustainable Development Technology in Arid Areas for developing countries in Gansu in 2007 (Linked to Record ID#85616)

Project narrative

In 2007, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) tasked the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute, a Chinese sand control research institution, with organizing two international training courses on sand control, the International Training Course on Ecological Construction and Sustainable Development Technology in Arid Areas (captured by this project) and the International Training Course for the Promotion of China's Desert Control Technology (captured by linked Record ID#85616). For both of these training courses, the Chinese Government covered all costs of training, provided a stipend for the trainees, and, if necessary, paid for the trainees' international travel expenses. The Gansu Desert Control Research Institute hosted the International Training Course on Ecological Construction and Sustainable Development Technology in Arid Areas in the Gansu Province. The training course featured 35 government officials and technicians from 21 developing countries in Asia and Africa, including at least one student from Sudan. 25 of these officials and technicians were reportedly from 18 African countries, including Egypt, Nigeria, and Tanzania ("中国为非洲荒漠化防治和生态建设培养专业人才"). The training course sought to teach students ecological management and sand control techniques and inform students on China's ecological restoration and its use of anti-desertification and desert control technology. The course also intended to teach students would learn how to choose the best plants for desert management and how to construction windbreak forests. The training included lectures and practical training, as well as field trips in Gansu and neighboring provinces. The opening ceremony of the one-month long training course was held in Wuwei, Gansu on June 4, 2007. It was successfully completed, but the precise date of the end of the training course is unknown although it can be estimated that the course was completed on July, 4, 2007, a month after beginning..