I. Location of Project

9 provinces and autonomous regions, including Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Ningxia, 8 provincial capitals and 61 prefecture-level cities (prefectures and leagues) along the Yellow River Basin.

II. Basic Understanding

The project team identified the following outstanding problems in the Yellow River Basin through analysis: imbalance between supply and demand of water resources, environmental pollution and ecological fragility; declining economic status, and insufficient guidance and support for high-quality development; insufficient protection, inheritance and promotion of the Yellow River culture in general. In addition, the Yellow River Basin does not enjoy a high status in China’s economic geography, and the socio-economic ties between cities along the Yellow River are insufficient.

III. Strategic Layout

Based on the basic understanding of the current situation, the project team proposed the strategic pattern of the Yellow River Basin.

In the next 5 to 15 years, the "Lanzhou-Xining-Zhengzhou-Jinan-Qingdao" urban belt along the Yellow River will be built. Promote and enhance the economic ties between the Lanzhou-Xining urban agglomeration, the Guanzhong Plain urban agglomeration, the Central Plains urban agglomeration and the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, and give full play to the leading role of the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration.

Facing 2035 and 2050, build the ecological protection and high-quality development belt along the Yellow River Basin. It will serve as a safe and resilient ecological belt in the Yellow River Basin, a belt for the protection and inheritance of the Yellow River culture, and a demonstration belt for the transformation and development of city-industry integration along the Yellow River.

IV. Strategic Measures

The project team formulated three strategies to support the strategic pattern of the Yellow River Basin.

Strategy 1: Build a safe and resilient ecological belt in the Yellow River Basin

The project team proposed to improve the capacity of water conservation through systematic treatment. We gave play to the role of collaborative governance and made joint effort to make up for the shortcomings of facilities and management; improved efficiency and controlled and prevented leakage and loss through rigid constraints; and attached importance to the exploitation of non-conventional sources of water by tappingthe potential of multiple channels.

Strategy 2: Build a belt for the protection and inheritance of the Yellow River culture

The project team proposed to systematically protect the historical and cultural resources of the Yellow River Basin, build an overall demonstration mechanism of Yellow River culture, establish a system to tell the "Stories of Yellow River" by using cross-regional cultural routes, create a Yellow River cultural tourism belt with international influence, and highlight the historical and cultural characteristics of each region.

Strategy 3: Build a demonstration belt for the transformation and development of city-industry integration along the Yellow River

The project team proposed to promote the green transformation of industries along the Yellow River Basin through innovation, support the construction of high-level centers, strengthen coordinated development, differentiate the construction of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas, and speed up the construction of high-level transportation facilities. In addition, the quality of urban living environment in the Yellow River Basin will be further improved.