Chinese President Xi Jinping has been committed to promoting ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin, which is critical to the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, pays high attention to the protection of the Yellow River, known as China's "Mother River" and the cradle of Chinese civilization. He has visited all provincial regions the Yellow River runs through, and has been to river banks on multiple occasions.
"A Yellow River well harnessed is a millennia-long aspiration of the Chinese people. Over the past few years, I have visited all nine provinces or autonomous regions on the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. If we do not fail Nature, Nature shall never fail us," said Xi when delivering his New Year message to greet the year of 2022.
Originating in Qinghai Province, the Yellow River is the second longest in China, measuring 5,464 km, and runs through nine provincial regions - Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong, and the basin plays a crucial role in the nation's socio-economic development, ecological security and food supply systems.
The Yellow River basin ecological protection and high-quality development have become a major national strategy, after Xi stressed the issue during his inspection tour of central China's Henan Province in September 2019.
Xi called for concerted efforts to protect and develop the Yellow River basin while chairing a symposium during the inspection tour.
"Differences between the upper, middle and lower reaches of the river should be fully considered, given that the Yellow River ecosystem is an organic whole. The upper reaches should improve water conservation capabilities. The middle reaches should focus on water and soil conservation as well as pollution control. The lower reaches should make efforts to protect the Yellow River Delta," said Xi, while chairing the symposium on ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province.
Xi stressed at the symposium that further efforts should be made to ensure the long-term stability of the Yellow River.
"Promoting ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin cannot be accomplished in a short period of time, which requires us to maintain determination and strategic focus. With the spirit that 'I may not be the pivot of success' and that my historical responsibility and my effort 'must not go vainly', we need to coordinate present work and long-term planning," said Xi.
In October 2021, Xi chaired a symposium on furthering ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province. At the symposium, Xi urged notable progress in ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).
On Sept 12, 2024, Xi chaired a symposium in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, on comprehensively promoting ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.
Xi called for breaking new ground in the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin.
At the symposium, Xi emphasized the need to continuously improve the holistic framework of ecological protection and collaboration in the Yellow River Basin and strengthen the national ecological security barrier; to implement the strictest water resource protection and utilization systems to improve the level of water resource conservation and intensive use; to improve the disaster prevention and mitigation system and keep the Yellow River harnessed; to push for a full transition to a green development model and to build a modern industrial system with distinctive advantages; to comprehensively deepen reform and expand opening up to boost high-quality development; to coordinate the new urbanization and rural revitalization, and to steadily improve people's well-being.
Xi emphasized that the Yellow River Basin is a crucial birthplace of the Chinese nation and Chinese civilization. Efforts should be made to protect and promote Yellow River culture and preserve historical and ethnic heritage.
Xi has constantly enriched the content of the ecological conservation and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin and is mapping out a new blueprint related to the basin.
Today, more than 420 million people live in the basin, and their lives are always on Xi's mind.
"The people are the country. As the CPC has led the people in fighting to establish and develop the People's Republic, it has really been fighting for their support," said Xi when visiting Henan's Zouzhuang in May 2021, a village established for resettled residents in 2011 when the middle route of the mega South-to-North Water Diversion Project was built. During his visit to the once barren land riddled with poverty, Nangou Village, Yan'an City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in October 2022, Xi said, "The CPC is the Party of the people. We are happy to see people's life get better, people have some money to spend, children receive good education, and old people have medical care."
In October 2021, Xi visited a relocation neighborhood in Dongying City during his inspection tour of Shandong Province. The Yangmiao Residential Community is a modern community, which was built to improve the life of relocated residents from the original flood storage and detention area of the Yellow River. "What does the CPC work for? It works for and serves the people. We need to know what we must do and what we must do quickly. The management of the Yellow River is one of the issues," Xi told local residents.
At the symposium in Lanzhou this year, Xi pointed out that the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin have reached a higher starting point. "However, there are still many challenges that need to be further addressed," he said.
"The Yellow River is beautiful, and it will be more beautiful in the future," said Xi.
Xi pays high attention to Yellow River basin ecological conservation, high-quality development
