I heard a story about that - it is the most bizarre, cruel thing in the world, these states racing to execute prisoners.

In other news, a friend sent this piece, it sounds rather like a Chinese propaganda video, but it is interesting. I can't exactly figure out where this desert reclamation project is (looking on Google Earth). https://youtu.be/zqkok2p-Kw8. Apparently in the Maowusu Desert desert, also called the Mu Us Desert. She has apparently turned 42,200 square kilometers into more of a forest and farmland.