Chinese President Xi Jinping put the national focus on cultural and environmental protection as part of a four-day trip to a historic heartland in the northwest.
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During his inspection tour of Gansu province from Tuesday to Friday, Xi called for improved conservation and management of the region’s landscape, from mountain and forest areas, to farmland and water resources.
In particular, he stressed the need to protect the Yellow River, China’s second-longest waterway.
Stopping in the provincial capital Lanzhou on Wednesday, Xi urged residents to “fulfil their duty in the joint protection of the Yellow River, so that the mother river will continue to benefit future generations”, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Inspection tours are a long-standing method used by Chinese political leaders to highlight policy priorities. Xi has made such trips to Gansu twice before – shortly before becoming president in 2013 and again in 2019.