Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, recently made important instructions on further advancing the protection and governance of the Yellow River. Xi noted that over the past 80 years, the Party has led the people in soundly harnessing the Yellow River, fundamentally changing the historical situation of two levee breaches every three years and creating a miracle of keeping the river safe year after year, thus fully demonstrating the remarkable advantages of the socialist system.

Xi stressed that on the new journey, it is essential to adhere to the guidance of the Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, firmly grasp the strategic requirements of emphasizing protection while highlighting governance, and follow the water management approach of prioritizing water conservation, balancing spatial distribution, taking systematic approaches, and giving full play to the roles of both the government and the market.

Efforts should be made to continuously improve the coordinated framework of ecological protection and cross-region collaboration, make solid progress in advancing ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, strengthen the shields for national ecological security, keep the Yellow River harnessed for long, inherit and carry forward Yellow River culture, and strive to make this mother river ever more beautiful so that it will bring everlasting benefits to the Chinese nation and generations to come.

Xi's important instructions were conveyed at a work conference on comprehensively advancing the protection and governance of the Yellow River, which was held on Nov. 2 in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province. Liu Guozhong, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier, attended and addressed the conference.

Liu noted that General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions carry profound political, ideological, and guiding significance. They have charted the course for consistently advancing ecological conservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, and must be thoroughly studied and resolutely implemented.

It is imperative to strengthen the sense of responsibility and mission and carry out relevant work in accordance with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee, Liu said. He called for concerted and coordinated promotion for the Yellow River's protection and governance in order to secure effective control and its perpetual safety, strengthen the conservation and intensive use of water resources, enhance the national water network's capacity to coordinate water allocation, step up protection of aquatic ecosystems, inherit and carry forward the Yellow River culture, and constantly break new ground for the protection and governance in the new era.

The conference briefed participants on the Chinese people's achievements in Yellow River governance over the past 80 years under the leadership of the CPC. Officials from Qinghai, Gansu, Henan and Shandong provinces, as well as the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Water Resources, spoke at the meeting.

Officials from relevant central Party, government departments and provincial-level regions also attended the meeting.

Editor: Lucy Jiang