General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the Yellow River estuary in Dongying City, Shandong Province on the 20th.

In the afternoon, he came to the Yellow River Estuary Pier, the Yellow River Delta Ecological Monitoring Center, and the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve to observe the water conditions of the Yellow River and the ecological environment of the Yellow River Delta wetland, and learn about the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin.

The Yellow River Delta visited by the General Secretary is formed by sediment deposits at the mouth of the sea and is the most complete wetland ecosystem in the warm temperate zone of China.

In October 1992, the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve was established.

The Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve (photo by drone, taken on October 20, 2021).

Scenery of Shandong Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve (photo by drone, taken on May 13, 2021).

　　Here, the Huanglong enters the sea, and the river gathers soil.

New wetland formed under the impact of the Yellow River (data photo).

The Yellow River merges into the Bohai Sea, forming a unique water boundary phenomenon (photographed on May 13, 2021).

　　Here, the ecology is rich and there are thousands of species.

The reed swaying in the wind in the nature reserve (data photo).

Two red-crowned cranes fly over the nature reserve (photographed on May 13, 2021).

　　Here is the home of 6 million birds.

Waterfowl photographed in a nature reserve (photographed on October 20, 2021).

A group of bean geese taken in a nature reserve (documentary photo).

　　Such ecological achievements are hard-won.

As a retreat from the sea, most areas of the Yellow River Delta have a short land-formation time, with less land salinity, less vegetation, and a fragile ecological environment.

In the 1990s, the Yellow River ran out of flow for many times and seawater inverted. The wetland at the mouth of the Yellow River was facing life and death.

The dry-up Yellow River was photographed in Jinan, Shandong (taken in February 1996).

　　Since 2002, the Yellow River Conservancy Commission has begun to implement water and sand regulation, which has created a good opportunity for ecological restoration in nature reserves.

The Yellow River Xiaolangdi Water Control Project opened gates to release water and adjust water and sand (photographed on June 19, 2004).

　　Since the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin have become a national strategy, nature reserves have accelerated the pace of protection and restoration, implementing a series of projects such as wetland ecological restoration and coastal ecological protection, taking multiple measures simultaneously.

The protected area monitoring picture and related data displayed on the smart screen of the Yellow River Delta Ecological Monitoring Center (photographed on October 20, 2021).

↑Ecological environment monitoring equipment (data photos) installed in the reserve.

In the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Shandong, policeman Yang Huazhang (front row left) patrols with his colleagues in an amphibious patrol vehicle (photographed on May 1, 2021).

The Shengli Oilfield located at the mouth of the Yellow River not only serves the country’s energy security, but also complies with the general trend of ecological civilization construction.

In 2020, 300 oilfield production facilities located in the core area and buffer zone of the nature reserve will be fully exited.

This is a worker dismantling oil production equipment and facilities (photographed on October 19, 2020).

　　The ecological changes at the mouth of the Yellow River are the epitome of the progress in the development of the Yellow River Basin.

Today, the mouth of the Yellow River is composing a new movement in the new era.

　　Director system: Chen Erhou

　　Producer: Liu Jie, Zheng Weilan, Hongguang Lai Xiangdong, Wang Jianhua

　　Planning: Yulan

　　Production: Bi Xiaoyang, Zhao Dingzhe

　　Photography: Li Xueren, Xie Huanchi, Wang Ye, Guo Xulei, Wu Zengxiang, Bi Xiaoyang, Liu Yueliang, and Yang Bin

　　Editor: Zhang Weige, Xu Liang and Ren Pengfei

Produced by Xinhua News Agency No. 1 Studio

Produced by the Photography Department of Xinhua News Agency