Village along Yangtze River cleans up waterways for high-quality growth

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02:13

China aims at protecting the ecological environment of the Yangtze River for high-quality economic growth, as President Xi Jinping stressed the promotion of the Yangtze River Economic Belt on Thursday.

Xinlong Village in east China's Zhejiang Province has become a successful model in environmental recovery over the past five years. The village is surrounded on three sides by streams, which eventually flow into the Yangtze River.

Improving water quality has been the main priority for improving the environment in Xinlong. Local officials and villagers understand very well that the flowing water not only provides water for drinking and domestic use, but also affects the network of small and big rivers connected to it.

The villagers are happy to see five ponds, which were once dirty, now cleaned.

"It was so dirty and stinks in summer. We're all happy the local government worked on the pond and made it clean and beautiful," said Ye Hongtao, a 43-year-old villager.

Ye used to be a fisherman, but his county initiated a five-year-long fishing ban, starting this month. Now like many other residents in Xinlong Village, he makes a living from his home rental business. It brings him less profit than fishing, but he still supports the ban.

"If the water ecology gets better in the future, it will be good for all of us. I think our sacrifice will be worth it," Ye said.

Sewage treatment has also improved. From the outside, every treatment area looks more like a garden.

All these efforts were supported by government funding. Now Xinlong has become a clean and beautiful village that attracts more and more visitors.

"We used to be a small fishing village. Now we don’t fish anymore but focus more on the home rental business. We’ve seen how the improved environment here is bringing in more tourists. Our revenue has been increasing by around 10 percent annually in recent years,” said Ye.