The Chinese government has released an environmental protection plan
covering the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the latest move to protect the
country's longest river from pollution.
The plan was jointly released by the Ministry of Environmental
Protection, the National Development and Reform Commission and the
Ministry of Water Resources.
It places an upper limit on the usage of water resources along the
belt, said Zhao Yingmin, vice minister of environmental protection.
An ecological "red line" will be put in place to protect and restore the environment of key areas, Zhao said.
This is in line with government guidelines issued earlier this year
on a nationwide ecological "red line" strategy that will place certain
regions under mandatory and rigorous protection.
Water quality management will be based on a "bottom line" system to
strengthen controls on pollution along the belt, especially at drinking
water sources, according to Zhao.
The plan also demands improved responses to environmental emergencies and closer regional coordination, he said.
Stretching from southwest China's Yunnan Province to Shanghai, the
Yangtze River Economic Belt covers nine provinces and two municipalities
in an area of 2.05 million square kilometers.
In 2014, China made developing the economic belt a national strategy.
The move was expected to boost development in riverside regions and
provide new growth stimuli for China's slowing economy.
Authorities have stressed that environmental protection should be a
priority in the development of the belt, which accounts for more than 40
percent of the country's population and economic aggregate.