URUMQI - The Taklimakan Desert, known as the "Sea of Death," has been completely encircled with a sand-blocking green belt stretching 3,046 km, said local authority in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

On Thursday morning, several plant species, including Populus euphratica (more commonly known as "desert poplar"), sacsaoul and red willow, were planted on sandy land in Yutian county on the southern edge of the desert, marking the completion of the final stretch of the green belt, according to the Xinjiang regional forestry and grassland bureau.

The Taklimakan covers 337,600 square km and its circumference measures 3,046 km, making it the largest desert in China and the second-largest drifting desert in the world.