The Maowusu Desert was created in the last century due to desertification, mostly began to erode in large amount from 1950s-1980s due to heavy industrialization, so if anything this is like a green reconquest, now birds and other seasonal animals are coming back.
Yep, we might quibble with the Three Gorges Dam, but it'll keep their key agricultural lands stable up to the 2080s even in the worst case climate change scenario.