2 | Tuesday, January 5, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PAGE TWO Waterway: Key projects implemented Patrol boat crews check the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei province, last month after the introduction of a 10­year fishing ban on the waterway. CHENG MIN / XINHUA From page 1 and more beautiful,” he added. ter in the Yangtze River Valley, espe­ patrols more than 100 km along the His company has invested more cially the wetlands around Poyang banks of the Yangtze on his electric During the meeting, Xi called for than 90 million yuan ($13.74 mil­ Lake — one of the river’s main bod­ scooter every day. a comprehensive improvement in lion) in the renovation project, for ies of water. The 50­year­old has always lived the efficient use of resources and for which dozens of local villagers have In 2017, Zhou and a group of vol­ on Kaisha Island in the city’s accelerated green and low­carbon been employed. unteers rented the 200,000­square­ Tongzhou district. His ancestors development. “I hope that people on the vessels meter lotus field south of the lake were fishermen and Shi never imag­ In spring, Tongluo Flower Valley that pass by can enjoy the beautiful near Nanchang and adapted it to ined that one day he would monitor in the Nanan district of Chongqing scenery in the river valley,” Zhang form a suitable conservation area the river to help enforce a fishing became a popular destination for added. for the cranes. ban. local people and a scenic spot for “With the support of the govern­ “I cannot recall when I started cruises along the Yangtze. Factories close ment, the conservation area more to fish in the river,” said Shi, who This newly opened vertical gar­ In Wuhan, Hubei province, in than tripled in size last year, during worked in the industry for 31 den built on a hillside covers nearly 2018, Xi reiterated the importance which we recorded more than 2,800 years. “I watched my parents 13 hectares and features some 120 of sustainable development for the white cranes,” Zhou said. catch fish on their boat every day types of trees and flowers, along Yangtze River Economic Belt. This area is just one of many small and learned how to do this when I with several pavilions. Visitors He said local governments wetlands on the Yangtze and Poyang was very young.” enjoy the scenery, drink tea, have should overcome inertia and focus Lake that the Jiangxi government He cannot remember how many meals and even stay at a cave­ on fostering high­quality develop­ has tried to protect and restore in fish he used to catch, but said the shaped hotel. ment. recent years. The authorities have many species taken from the river However, the site used to be a “The Yangtze River is China’s allocated 50 million yuan to com­ helped him support his family, raise waste area for Fangniu village and mother river, and we must protect Tongluo Flower Valley, once a waste ground in Chongqing, has been pensate farmers whose produce has his children and have a decent stan­ later became a large, foul­smelling it. We must move all polluting transformed into a vertical garden. HUANG WEI / XINHUA been eaten by birds. dard of living. dumping ground for construction enterprises from along the Yang­ Qian Fawen, an ornithologist “I could catch more than 50 kilo­ companies. tze with resolve … to root out hid­ with the National Forestry and grams of long­tailed anchovy in a Village official Tang Hongdong den dangers of pollution,” he Yangtze River Economic Belt Grassland Administration, told single net,” he said proudly. At one said, “This illegal dumping ground stressed. Jiangxi Daily that last month time, this species sold for more than seriously affected the environment Efforts should be made to get Poyang Lake saw the highest num­ 10,000 yuan a kg. and was also a threat to the Yangtze rid of old growth engines, culti­ Nanjing ber of migratory birds for a dec­ However, things began to change River.” vate new ones and establish a ade. about 20 years ago, when Shi was Shanghai On rainy days, waste and rocks modern system for the economic Chengdu “The Yangtze fishing ban and catching considerably fewer fish in from the site washed into the river, belt, he added. Wuhan wide­ranging conservation work the Yangtze. polluting the water, he added. Fruit store owner Bi Kaiyun have increased the food supply for “Nine out of 10 fishing nets con­ In January 2016, after an inspec­ worked at the Tiantian Chemical Chongqing migratory birds, while demonstrat­ tained nothing but disappointment tion tour to the riverside city of Plant on the southern bank of the Nanchang ing that the environment has when they were pulled out of the riv­ Chongqing, Xi said the environmen­ Yangtze in Yichang, Hubei, for 16 improved,” Qian said. er. I realized that something must be tal quality of the Yangtze “can only years until the factory was demol­ While Zhou’s focus is on the Sibe­ done and that the Yangtze needed be allowed to become better, and ished in April 2018. rian white crane, in Shanghai, con­ time to recover,” he said. can never be allowed to deteriorate”. The company was one of the city’s ∙ Comprises: nine provinces and two ∙ Foreign investment in 2019: servationist Liu Jian is concerned Last year, the authorities issued a The authorities in Chongqing major taxpayers, contributing 28 municipalities $67.71 billion (excluding banking, about another endangered species regulation to protect the river, bar­ quickly started improvement million yuan ($4.4 million) annual­ ∙ Area: 2.05 million square kilometers securities and stock market) — the Chinese sturgeon. ring all fishing along the waterway work along the Yangtze and Jialing ly to local coffers before it was — 21.4 percent of China’s territory ∙ Area within ecological conserva­ The fish, which dates to prehistor­ for 10 years. rivers, repairing waterfronts, opti­ closed. ∙ Population: 600 million — 40 per­ tion redline: 544,200 sq km — 25.47 ic times, lives mainly in the Yangtze, Shi, who received compensation mizing riverside functions, creat­ Bi said, “It was hard to start a new cent of national total percent of Yangtze River Economic particularly its estuary. On reaching of more than 190,000 yuan for his ing water­friendly spaces, and career in middle age, but it was the ∙ Urbanization ratio: 59.5 percent Belt area maturity, it swims more than 1,000 fishing boat and equipment, applied protecting historical and cultural right thing to do for the sake of a bet­ ­ Combined GDP in 2019: 45.78 tril­ ∙ Water quality in 2019: 91.7 percent km upstream to breed, with baby to patrol the Yangtze. resources. ter environment.” lion yuan ($7 trillion), 46.2 percent of of water in sections monitored sturgeon swimming to the river All 400 fishermen in the city have As part of the program, Fangniu He said that when the factory national total reached national standards I to III; 0.6 mouth. moved ashore and their 170 boats village worked with a local land­ was shut down, people living in ∙ Research and development percent of water fell below national Liu, director of the Shanghai have been dismantled. scaping company to turn the neighboring areas began to open investment in 2019: 1.06 trillion standard V. Aquatic Wildlife Conservation To help them adapt to new lives, dumping ground into an ecological their windows, dry clothes on bal­ yuan, 2.23 percent of regional GDP and Research Center, said: “The the local government has offered to park. conies and stroll along the river ∙ Goods transported on Yangtze SOURCES: NATIONAL STATISTICS center has seen baby sturgeon train them as nurses for the elderly Zhang Shunyin, 65, owner of the bank. last year: 3.06 billion metric tons, BUREAU, MINISTRY OF ECOLOGY AND swimming to the estuary in only and as bakers and chefs. Nearly all company and a local villager, said, “I “Life became clean and clear year­on­year rise of 4.4 percent ENVIRONMENT, MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT two of the past seven years of the fishermen were covered by the grew up by the river and I had to do again. Now, I can wear light­colored monitoring. Protecting the fish local social security system. something for the younger genera­ clothes at my store and don’t have to requires efforts from all provinces Shi said many of them have gone tion.” worry about getting stains and dirt resulted in Yichang’s GDP growth waterway and its tributaries, taking along the Yangtze.” to big cities to work, and that he sel­ In 2017, work began on the from machinery.” dropping to 2.4 percent from 10.2 effect on March 1. In May, Shanghai legislators dom catches people fishing illegally Tongluo Flower Valley Ecological After the chemical plant was percent, but it soon started to passed a new law protecting the Chi­ in the river. Park. demolished, a new one with high­ bounce back as factories were Wildlife protection nese sturgeon, emphasizing region­ “I’m proud to patrol and protect In the early stages, more than 300 standard pollution treatment facili­ upgraded, and by 2019 had reached For the past four years, Zhou al cooperation and ordering an the Yangtze and hope that my chil­ trucks were used to remove waste ties was built away from the river in 8.1 percent. Haiyan, a journalist turned con­ annual report on the status of the dren can also protect, and not harm, from the site, home to over 50,000 Zhijiang county, Yichang.