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.
And they planted shitty non-native trees that current generations of the conservation corps are removing because tamarisk trees are actually awful! The more you know.
(I'm not saying planting trees is bad, it's good for sure, but it's important to plant the right trees for the environment.)