The Shanxi delegation to the National People's Congress (NPC) suggested further strengthening the environmental protection of the Yellow River basin at the NPC annual session in Beijing, which runs from March 5 to 11.

Shanxi province is located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Yellow River basin in Shanxi covers 11 cities and 86 counties, with a drainage area of 97,000 square kilometers, accounting for 12.2 percent of the basin's total area.

As an essential part of the Yellow River basin, Shanxi shoulders a crucial historical mission to promote the basin's ecological protection and high-quality development. The province is vital for protecting the environmental security of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yellow River. Unfortunately, it is one of the most prominent areas where economic development has been prioritized over environmental protection. 

In 2020, the quality of the aquatic environment in the Yellow River basin in Shanxi was much improved. That said, the province's water environment quality is still well below the national average, and the room for further water quality enhancement is relatively limited to natural limitations.

Due to the problems with aquatic-environment protection in the Yellow River basin, the Shanxi delegation submitted a motion to strengthen the Yellow River basin's ecological preservation. The action calls for increased financial support for water pollution prevention and control projects in the Yellow River basin, strengthening support for Yellow River water resources and building an ecological compensation mechanism for green and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin.