Chinese President Xi Jinping visited northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Monday to learn about the region's efforts in poverty alleviation and ecological protection. For the fourth time in a year, he stood by the Yellow River and shared his concerns about China's "Mother River."

In August Xi described the Yellow River, the country's second longest river, as "frail."

What has made Xi so concerned over the Yellow River?

The river plays an irreplaceable role in the nation's ecology as well as its history. Starting from Qinghai Province, the Yellow River, known as China's "Mother River" and the cradle of Chinese civilization, runs through nine provinces and autonomous regions before emptying into the Bohai Sea.

As an "ecological corridor," the Yellow River, linking the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Loess Plateau and plains in northern China with severe water scarcity, plays an important role in improving the ecological environment, combating desertification and providing water supply.

The 5,464-kilometer-long waterway feeds about 12 percent of China's population, irrigates about 15 percent of arable land, supports 14 percent of national GDP and supplies water to more than 60 cities, according China's Xinhua News Agency.

The river's natural and geological conditions have led to frequent flooding in ancient times. Over the past 2,500 years, the river broke its dikes 1,600 times and made 26 major changes in its course in its lower reaches in history, according to Xinhua News Agency, which reports that these efforts remain a priority in the nation's governance.

As of today, the river still faces three major challenges.

Firstly, sand: As it runs through the Loess Plateau with serious soil erosion because of ecological destruction, huge amount of sand and soil deposits are washed away by the running water in the lower stream, raising the riverbed and increasing the risks of the river bursting its banks and triggering floods.

Secondly, ecological degradation: The bottomland the stretches along the river is fertile in soil and provides a natural habitat for many wild animals, especially birds, but over exploitation is threatening these areas. 

Thirdly, heavy pollution: Busy industrial activities along the river once put the Yellow River on the map as one of the world's most polluted rivers about 10 years ago, and today, despite some progress, pollution control remains one of the priorities in protecting the Yellow River  according to Xinhua News Agency.

To deal with these issues, the central government as well as local governments along the river have taken a series of measures.

Over the past 70 years, China has carried out four large-scale embankment projects and built water conservancy projects such as Longyang Gorge, Liujia Gorge hydropower projects and the Xiaolangdi Dam, achieving a major breakthrough from passive treatment to active management of sand and water in the Yellow River.

Since 2012, the country has implemented two phases of flood control projects in the lower reaches of the waterway and completed the standard levee construction. The accumulated amount of silt and sand into the Yellow River has been reduced by nearly 30 billion tons and the sediment of the downstream river has been reduced by 11.2 billion tons, according China's Xinhua News Agency.

To tackle pollution, the state's Ministry of Ecology and Environment launched a pilot investigation in an attempt to find all sewage outfalls along the river by the end of 2020. It has also requested provinces and regions along the river submit remote sensing images by July 2020 that will be used to discover possible sewage outfalls. It will also send over 1,000 employees to carry out field visits.

At the same time, places along the river have also been exploring ways to help poverty-struck residents. For example, forage crop alfalfa has been wildly planted in places such as Shanxi and Gansu Provinces. The plant grows naturally in the region, but now it has been promoted for its economic and ecological benefits. It has not only brought extra income for locals, but because the locals can herd their livestock in the alfalfa fields instead of the wild, it protects the natural grazing grounds from over exploitation, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The country has built more than 400 wetland nature reserves and national parks in the river basin, according to a Xinhua news report.

It has listed the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin a national strategy. 

(Cover image via VCG)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)