Septuagenarian CPPCC member calls for continuous protection of Yellow River

Wang Shuli, a 71-year-old member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) who has put forward 17 proposals regarding the protection of the Yellow River for nine consecutive years, will continue to focus on the mother river of China at this year’s “Two Sessions.”

Wang Shuli receives interview from China News Service. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

He is calling for building a germplasm resource pool for species at the estuary of the Yellow River, China's second-longest river. “This will help protect the precious biological resources there,” he said, adding that species such as the wild soybean in Dongying city, in east China's Shandong Province, are endemic to the river’s delta areas.

“With a total length of 5,464 kilometers in length, the Yellow River flows into the sea in Dongying, transporting seeds of species and aquatic animals from its upper reaches,” he said. Home to 370 bird species, 685 plant species and 512 insect species, the delta of the river serves as a “transfer station” for migratory birds from the inland areas of northeast Asia and western Pacific Rim. “Protecting the germplasm resources of these species carries great significance,” he said.

Wang suggests categorizing the germplasm resources, organizing scientific research on biodiversity at the estuary, and inviting scientific institutions to make plans for constructing the germplasm resource pool.

Wang Shuli on a study tour along the Yellow River. (Photo courtesy of the interviewee)

Besides, he suggests that state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in regions along the Yellow River should participate in the river’s ecological restoration and contribute to rural vitalization. He hopes that local governments and SOEs will join hands in restoring the river, with the latter as the mainstay, and calls for the proper development of secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas along the river to achieve a greater balance in industrial development there.

Wang has been living and working near the river for his whole life, and has travelled to all of the nine provinces that the river runs through in order to carry out related research on the waterway. Wang, whose past proposals about the river concerned areas such as the improvement of water quality and tourism development, said he would continue to protect the river in the future.