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BEIJING, May 13-- While checking the ecological protection work of the Fenhe River in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, on Tuesday during his inspection tour, President Xi Jinping expressed his satisfaction with the tremendous changes made to the ecological environment along the river and stressed the importance of green development. As the second-largest tributary of the Yellow River, the Fenhe River, which stretches 716 km, passes through six cities and dozens of counties and merges into the Yellow River. The Fenhe River has nine tributaries in the city of Taiyuan, the provincial capital. However, due to historical reasons, the river, also known as the "mother river" of Shanxi, used to be highly polluted. This is not the first time that Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, voiced his concern over the environment along the Fenhe River. Back in June 2017, during an inspection tour in Shanxi, he stressed efforts to increase the amount of water in the Fenhe River, improve its water quality and beautify the scenery. As a result, Taiyuan launched the comprehensive treatment project for the nine rivers and completed it in 2018. With over 20 kinds of plants for ecological purification, greenbelts emerged on the banks of the nine rivers. Underscoring the incorporation of environmental protection, energy revolution, green development, and economic transformation, Xi on Tuesday noted that the treatment of the Fenhe River is not only essential to the environmental protection and economic development of Shanxi, but also important to the historical and cultural inheritance of the province. | 
