Abstract:
The international diffusion of desertification-control experience depends not only on the performance of individual technologies, but also on their compatibility with local water and soil conditions, governance capacity, financing arrangements, and monitoring systems. To respond to the shift in implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from showcasing experience to institutionalized technology transfer, this study redirects the analytical focus from a general assessment of the Convention to the conditions and pathways through which China’s desertification-control practices can contribute to global governance. Official UNCCD documents, China’s national desertification and sandy-land monitoring results, the National Plan for Desertification Control (2021–2030), and empirical studies were synthesized within an analytical framework covering institutional foundations, technological suitability, transfer mechanisms, and the external environment. A SWOT approach was then used for strategic matching. The results show that: (1) China’s integrated system of legislation and planning, target-based accountability, major ecological programs, space–air–ground monitoring, and international training constitutes a major comparative strength; (2) enclosure and natural regeneration, mechanical sand barriers, integrated tree–shrub–grass configurations, and photovoltaic-based sand control all have explicit biophysical and economic boundaries, with water carrying capacity, long-term maintenance costs, and local governance capacity being decisive constraints on transferability; (3) the UNCCD technology-transfer framework, South–South cooperation, green finance, carbon markets, and natural-capital investment create opportunities, whereas climate change, geopolitical conflict, international economic volatility, and global public-health emergencies may disrupt finance, personnel, and data flows; and (4) the global value of China’s experience lies not in exporting isolated techniques, but in establishing a complete transfer chain of needs assessment, regional matching, joint piloting, capacity building, co-development of standards, financing, and performance monitoring. SO, ST, WO, and WT strategies are proposed to transform China’s practices into assessable, adaptable, and sustainable global public goods under the UNCCD framework.