BEIJING: Chinese authorities unveiled an ambitious action plan on conserving the Yellow River, the country’s second longest, on Wednesday, vowing to restore 700,000 hectares of degraded natural forest and treat almost 1.4 million hectares of land suffering from desertification in its basin by 2025.
Issued on Wednesday by 12 central government bodies, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Water Resources, the action plan is the latest example of the country’s strengthened endeavors to protect the watercourse dubbed the mother river of the Chinese nation.
Chinese central authorities have attached increasingly greater importance to protecting the river, as the country forges ahead with the construction of an ecological civilization, a concept promoted by President Xi Jinping for balanced and sustainable development featuring harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
Xi has presided over two symposiums on ecological protection and the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.
In the latest one held in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, in October last year, for example, he called for unremitting efforts to ensure that the Yellow River will always benefit the Chinese nation.
He said provincial-level regions along the Yellow River should stick to putting the environment first and being committed to green development.
Aside from measures for ecological conservation and remediation, the action plan also listed water pollution control as one of the priorities in protecting the Yellow River.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
