【Expert Comments】
Governing the country according to law is the basic way for the party to lead the people to govern the country. As another important strategic achievement in promoting the rule of law in the national "river strategy", the Yellow River Protection Law is a strong implementation of the important deployment of "promoting ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin" put forward in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law is to transform the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core on ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin into the national will and the code of conduct of the whole society, better play the role of the rule of law as a guarantee for solidifying the foundation, stabilizing expectations and benefiting the long term, and provide a solid legal guarantee for the vitality of the Yellow River's mother river.
To implement the Yellow River Protection Law, a complete, accurate and comprehensive understanding is a prerequisite. It is necessary to deeply understand the legislative intent, core essence, and practical requirements of the Yellow River Protection Law. Article 3 of the Yellow River Protection Law stipulates that "the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin shall adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China". Yellow River Ning, the world is peaceful. After the founding of New China, under the strong leadership of the Party, large-scale work was carried out along the Yellow River by the military and civilians and the builders of the Yellow River. Since entering the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward the idea of "water conservation first, spatial balance, systematic governance, and two-handed efforts" for water control, personally planned, personally deployed, and personally promoted the major national strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, and guided the Yellow River protection and governance to achieve historic achievements and historic changes. Confirming "upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China" as a fundamental principle and giving play to the party's role as the core of leadership in controlling the overall situation and coordinating all parties will help give play to the superiority of China's socialist system in concentrating forces to do great things, and ensure that the construction of the rule of law in the Yellow River Basin always moves in the correct political direction.
The Yellow River Protection Law takes water as the core, the river as the link, and the river basin as the basis, and pays more attention to the systematic, holistic and coordinated nature of protection and governance. For example, it not only emphasizes the integrity of the physical space such as the relevant county-level administrative regions involved in the catchment area formed by the main stream, tributaries and lakes, but also emphasizes the coordination of the natural, economic, social, cultural and other physical space and social space of the river basin, and for the first time incorporates culture into the connotation of the river basin, and stipulates the protection, inheritance and promotion of the Yellow River culture. In view of the ecological fragility of the Yellow River Basin, the Yellow River Protection Law specifies a series of targeted, guaranteed and binding institutional measures, emphasizing that by focusing on key areas, implementing major ecological restoration projects, accelerating regional desertification control, increasing the comprehensive control of soil erosion, promoting wetland protection and ecological governance, and building green ecological corridors, etc., "focusing on protection and governance" is determined as a legal system that must be observed by the economic development of all regions in the Yellow River Basin. In view of the problems of "Nine Dragons controlling water" and regional division faced in the protection and management of the Yellow River, the Yellow River Protection Law adheres to the concept of system, and stipulates that "the state shall establish an overall coordination mechanism for ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin" and "provinces and autonomous regions in the Yellow River Basin may establish a provincial-level coordination mechanism as needed" in accordance with the requirements of the central government, the province taking overall responsibility, and the city and county to implement the requirements, playing the Yellow River chorus in the new era of promoting joint protection and coordinated governance among the upper, middle and lower streams, left and right banks, main tributaries, and departments.
The vitality of the law lies in its implementation. First, in-depth study and propaganda. All localities and departments should include the Yellow River Protection Law as an important part of law popularization and publicity, pay close attention to nodes such as "World Water Day", "China Water Week" and "World Environmental Protection Day", carry out publicity and interpretation in a form that the masses like to hear, and form a good atmosphere for the whole society to consciously respect the law, study the law, abide by the law, and use the law. The second is to fully perform our responsibilities in accordance with the law. Adhere to the whole process, all-round and full-time performance of responsibilities in accordance with the law, do a solid job in planning and control, ecological protection and restoration, conservation and intensive utilization of water resources, water and sand regulation and flood prevention safety, and the protection and inheritance and promotion of the Yellow River culture, and make good use of the four mechanisms of water administrative law enforcement, such as cross-regional linkage, cross-departmental cooperation, connection with criminal justice, and coordination with procuratorial public interest litigation, to transform the advantages of the legal system into governance efficiency. The third is to improve the connection of systems. In the process of implementation, on the basis of the Yellow River Protection Law and related laws, promote the enactment and repeal of relevant water-related laws and regulations, accelerate the issuance of legislative interpretations and technical standards, publish law enforcement and judicial guiding cases in a timely manner, and build a basin-wide integrated judicial protection mechanism and comprehensive law enforcement system.
(Author: Liu Xingping, doctoral supervisor of the School of Marxism, Hohai University, special researcher of Jiangsu Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)
Project team: reporter Zhang Sheng, Wang Wenjing, Wan Majia, Song Xiqun, Wang Bingya, Wang Jianhong, Zhang Wenpan, Wang Shengxi, Zhao Qiuli, Feng Fan, Jin Hao, Wang Simin trainee reporter Li Chunjian Guangming Network reporter Zhan Zhao Correspondent Xu Shuxia and Wang Manman