On Dec. 20 of 2007, the “Sino-German Agreement on Rehabilitation of Degraded Land ecosystem” was signed in Wuhan between the Changjiang Scientific Research Institute (CRSRI) and the Institute of Silviculture, Technische Universitat München (TUM), Germany. Mr. Chen Jin, deputy president of CRSRI presided the signing ceremony. The Soil and Water Conservation Department of CRSRI and the Institute of Silviculture of TUM were the executives respectively. As collaborative units, The Northwest Sci-Tech University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Beijing Forestry University participated in the ceremony. This agreement was witnessed by Dr. Hong Peng, representative of Ankang Government, Shaanxi Province.

The joint project included following aspects: both parties would conduct the joint project in southern Shaanxi Province; both parties would conduct the joint project in afforestation techniques, soil erosion and development of a sustainable land use management-system; both parties agreed to make best efforts to obtain additional funds to conduct the project and to complete the joint corporation in technology transfer, academic exchange and promoting young scientists; and both parties agreed to conduct the joint project in collaboration with the Northwest Sci-Tech University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Beijing Forestry University. 

The overall objective of the project was to develop a decision-making system of sustainable land use for the departments of environmental protection and land use in China, which would make the soil erosion reduced and the surface water quality improved through optimizing land use structure, and achieve sustainable utilization of regional land resources while giving consideration to ecological, economical and social benefits. Such a system could be adapted to other regions with serious erosion problems.