Ships on the Yangtze River near Yangluo Port in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, China, August 13, 2018. /Xinhua
The Yangtze River Protection Law officially takes effect on Monday, with the aim of protecting China's longest river, aiming at strengthening the ecological protection and restoration of the Yangtze River Basin, promoting the rational and efficient use of resources, ensuring ecological safety, and realizing the harmonious coexistence of man and nature.
It also features new requirements for the Yangtze River biological protection, sewage treatment, flood control and disaster relief, and ecological restoration.
Coordinating departments say the Law marks a change in direction for China.
The law establishes a national coordination mechanism for protection efforts, bans chemical plants from being built within one kilometer of the river and also restricts sand mining along the riverbanks.
"The implementation of this law means we're attaching greater importance to the health of the river and environmental protection. This is the way green, eco-friendly development should go," Wang Fengchun, deputy director of the Legislation Department of China's National People's Congress Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, told CGTN.
