Abstract: China desertification research has experinced several decades of hard struggle along with the establishment and development of China desert sciences. The research has made great contribution to national economic construction and China desert scientific system's formation. In the past 40 years, considerable achivements have been made in desertification research fields such as basic research, dynamic monitoring and evaluation, vegetation evolution, landscape ecology, plant stress physiology, ecosystem, highly efficient use and sustainable development of water and land resources, treatment model and technology, etc. The key fields of China desertification research in the future are blown sand physics and desert environment, rehabiliatation ecology, water and land resources utilization and agricultural sustainable development, desertification reversion and treatment model, etc.

Key words: China, desert science, desertification, research advances