China plans to clean up Yellow River and give its ‘sorrow’ a brighter future
- Scarce water resources made the top priority in proposal covering ecological protection as well as development
- President Xi Jinping has labelled the basin a key strategic region along with the likes of the Yangtze delta and Greater Bay Area
Despite being the cradle of Chinese civilisation and the nation’s second-longest river after the Yangtze, the Yellow River’s potential has been stunted, because of unsustainable use of water, soil erosion, sediment and pollution.
The government has submitted a plan to the Politburo covering its ecological protection and development, making its extremely scarce water resources the top priority.
“It is a long-term project concerning the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” read a Politburo statement carried by state news agency Xinhua late on Monday.
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Winter freeze arrives along ‘China's sorrow’, the Yellow River
The river’s annual water flow is less than 7 per cent of that of the Yangtze, in the centre and east of the country, and 18 per cent of that of the Pearl River, the most major river system in the south.