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Foundation set up to protect China's "Mother River"

Updated: 2009-10-22 15:56

Distinguished guests and delegates from China and overseas attend the opening ceremony of the 4th International Yellow River Forum on Ecological Civilization and River Ethics, slated from October 20 to 23, in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Oct. 20, 2009.

One third of the Yellow River system had been polluted, according to a bulletin issued by the YRCC last year. Industrial sector was blamed as the No.1 polluter, followed by living sewage contributed by urbanites living along the river system and the service trade.

The river, dubbed China's "Mother River", flows eastward through nine provinces and autonomous regions before emptying into the Bohai Sea. It has 35 main tributaries.

Supplying about 10 percent of China's 1.3 billion population and 240 million mu (16 million hectares) of farmland, the river is the biggest water resource in northwest and north China.

The YRCC has its headquarters in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province. It is assigned with the mission of overseeing the welfare of the Yellow River system.