The city of Beijing has wiped out its major desertified areas after massive afforestation campaigns added tens of millions of trees, local authorities have said.

According to the announcement by the Beijing Gardening and Greening Bureau, the five major sandstorm-plagued areas in the Chinese capital have placed all their sandy lands under artificial forests.

The declaration ahead of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought on Monday said the five desertified areas -- towns of Kangzhuang, Nankou and rivers of Chaobai, Yongding and Dasha, once sprawled 165,000 hectares in Beijing's northwestern, northeastern and western suburbs.

They have been targeted by a series of afforestation programs since the 1980s. In 2012, the metropolis launched its largest-ever afforestation drive to help achieve a 43.5-percent forest coverage by the end of 2018.

Thanks to the afforestation efforts, Beijing has seen a steady decline of sandy weather occurrence in spring, from 26 days in the 1950s to 5-7 days at the turn of the century to three days after 2010, according to Beijing meteorological bureau.