China’s Xi Jinping puts culture and ecology front and centre in visit to historic Gansu

Four-day tour of Gansu province sees President Xi Jinping emphasise cultural and environmental protection alongside deeper reform

Reading Time:3 minutes

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits the Maijishan Grottoes, a Unesco-listed heritage site, in northwest China’s Gansu province on Wednesday. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:00pm, 15 Sep 2024

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.

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.

08:25

China’s Yellow River: Taming the cradle of Chinese civilisation

In recent years, lower water levels and sediment build-up in sections of the Yellow River have affected flood control and agriculture.