Beijing, 4 Apr (ZXS) -- On 1 April, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of the Yellow River" came into force, marking that China's ecological protection and management of the Yellow River has embarked on the track of rule of law. Officials have made it clear that it is necessary to comprehensively fight the battle of ecological protection and governance of the Yellow River and ensure the long-term stability of the Yellow River.

On March 3, in Linfenji County, Shanxi, the ice melted, the Yellow River Hukou Waterfall ushered in the "peach blossom flood", and a rainbow appeared in the sky. Photo/Visual China

The Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, and the Yellow River Basin has the natural ecological corridor of the Yellow River and many important ecological function areas such as the source of the Three Rivers and the Qilian Mountains, and is distributed in the main agricultural production areas such as the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, the Fenwei Plain and the Hetao Irrigation Area, and is an important energy, chemical, raw material and basic industrial base in China. With 2% of the country's water resources, the Yellow River undertakes the important tasks of people's livelihood and industrial and agricultural production along the Yellow River, and is also the lifeline of northwest and north China.

At present, some outstanding difficulties and problems such as the fragile ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin still exist. The Yellow River is extremely short of water resources, and the utilization rate of water resources in the basin is as high as 80%, some tributaries have been cut off, and there are even lakes dug for landscaping. In addition, the development intensity of water resources is high, and the efficiency of agricultural water use is not high, so that the pollution problem in some areas is prominent, the ecological flow of some tributaries is insufficient, and the overall quality of the water environment is worse than the national average.

In order to comprehensively strengthen the protection of the ecological environment in the Yellow River Basin and focus on improving the quality of the ecological environment, in June 2022, the "Yellow River Basin Eco-environmental Protection Plan" was released.

On August 2022, 8, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other 5 departments issued the Action Plan for Tackling Tough Problems in the Yellow River Ecological Protection and Governance, focusing on the shortcomings and weaknesses of the current Yellow River ecological protection and governance, and put forward 12 key actions and 5 specific tasks for the ecological protection and governance of rivers and lakes, synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, making up for the shortcomings of urban environmental governance facilities, agricultural and rural environmental governance and ecological protection and restoration, which became the "timetable", "road map" and "construction drawing" of the Yellow River ecological protection and governance during the "23th Five-Year Plan" period.

The action plan clearly states that through tackling tough problems, the quality and stability of the ecosystem in the Yellow River Basin have been steadily improved, the ecological flow of the main stream and major tributaries has been effectively guaranteed, the quality of the water environment has been continuously improved, the level of pollution control has been significantly improved, and the ecological and environmental risks have been effectively controlled. By 2025, the proportion of surface water reaching or better than Class III. water bodies will reach 81.9%, the proportion of surface water inferior Class V. water bodies will be basically eliminated, the water quality of the upper and middle reaches of the main stream of the Yellow River will reach Class II., and the proportion of centralized drinking water sources in cities at the county level and above will reach or better than Class III. The proportion of water quality reaching or better than Class III. will not be less than 90%.

On October 2022, 10, the 30th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 2023th National People's Congress passed the Yellow River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, which came into force on April 4, 1.

In recent years, all relevant departments of the nine provinces (autonomous regions) along the Yellow River have solidly promoted the battle of ecological protection and governance of the Yellow River, focused on rectifying ecological and environmental problems, and significantly improved the quality of the ecological environment in the river basin. In 9, the proportion of water quality sections of surface water class I-III in the Yellow River Basin will reach 2022.87%, an increase of 5.5 percentage points year-on-year, and the main stream of the Yellow River will reach Class II water quality for the first time.

"The task of ecological protection and governance of the Yellow River is still arduous and heavy," Sun Shouliang, director of the comprehensive department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told reporters, adding that the promulgation and implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China has provided a strong guarantee for promoting ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin on the track of rule of law. In the next step, we should earnestly perform the responsibilities of the department, promote the battle of ecological protection and governance of the Yellow River, and promote the improvement of the ecological environment of the river basin. It is also necessary to guide local governments to implement the Yellow River Protection Law and do a good job in supporting relevant laws and regulations.

On March 3, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment launched an investigation of the middle and lower reaches of the main stream of the Yellow River and some tributaries into the river. According to the deployment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, we will resolutely fight the battle of ecological protection and governance of the Yellow River. Efforts should be made to solve outstanding ecological and environmental problems. Strengthen the guarantee and supervision of ecological flow, and continue to promote the utilization of sewage resources. Comprehensively implement the rectification of the tributaries of the Yellow River. At the same time, a new round of central ecological environmental protection inspections will be launched in a timely manner in accordance with the central plan. (End)