On 15 August 2026, China’s Ecological and Environmental Code entered into force, consolidating more than 30 environmental laws into a unified framework of more than 1240 articles (1). At the time of this publication, the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17) is ongoing in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (2). This rare convergence offers an opportunity to extend China’s ecological governance beyond national borders through evidence-based dryland restoration cooperation.