HOHHOT — Over 68 million hectares of grassland in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has been subsidized by the country to help with overgrazing in the past decade, said the regional agriculture and husbandry authorities.

The central government has been funding the restoration of such grasslands nationwide since 2011. Inner Mongolia has handed out subsidies of more than 45.5 billion yuan ($7.03 billion) for local herders to support the captive breeding of animals and restrictions on herding since then.

The practice has helped effectively avoid grassland productivity damage and pasture degradation.

A total of 27 million hectares of desertified grassland has been benefited and 41 million hectares of grassland has been properly utilized based on a balanced ecosystem and local grazing.

Thanks to the improving ecological environment of the grassland, the region recorded about 45 percent of its grassland vegetation coverage.

Inner Mongolia spans the vast northern territory of China and is an important ecological barrier in the country. The region's grassland occupies about one-fifth of the country's total.