New measures in place to conserve Yellow River

In the country's latest move to enhance the conservation of the Yellow River, the top legislature has passed a law dedicated to protecting the mother river of the Chinese nation, vowing to implement a series of measures to enhance water saving, ecological remediation, and pollution control.

The law was adopted on Sunday, after its draft was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the third reading. It will come into force on April 1, 2023.

Yuan Jie, an official with the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said the law has focused on solving major problems in the Yellow River Basin, such as water shortage, the fragility of its ecosystem, flood threat, and inadequate high-quality development.

With water resources as the most important matter subject to binding constraints, the law has fully followed the principal of planning development in accordance with the amount of water the basin boasts, she noted.

The law explicitly stipulates that the national government should roll out measures to ramp up water conservation, water use efficiency, and the reduction of wastewater discharge in the basin's agricultural and industrial sectors, as well as in its urban areas, she said.

She said the national government will hammer out the general plan to allocate the basin's water resources. The plan will be adjusted in a dynamic manner in accordance with the hydrological conditions in the basin.

The law also stressed that the basin should adhere to the new development philosophy to promote high-quality development. It should accelerate green transition in its development mode, as well as to optimize the layout of its economy and productivity, according to Yuan.

The law rules that governments of county-level and above should promote high-quality development in the manufacturing sector and the transformation of those industries that heavily rely on resources, she said. Based on local conditions, they should strive to boost the development of clean and low-carbon energies and optimize the structures of industry, energy and transportation.