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BEIJING, June 9-- The inspection tour to the Yellow River by President Xi Jinping reflects the great importance he attaches to the ecological environment amid the country's pursuit of high-quality development. It is the fourth visit by Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, to China's "Mother River" in a year. The protection of the Yellow River is critical to the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation. That explains why China has set the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin as a major national strategy. The 5,464-km-long waterway is the cradle of Chinese civilization. The river feeds about 12 percent of China's population, irrigates about 15 percent of arable land, supports 14 percent of national GDP, and supplies water to more than 60 cities. Following his previous visits to Gansu Province last August, Henan Province last September and Shanxi Province in May, all of which are located in the Yellow River Basin, Xi, on Monday afternoon, inspected Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, where he visited a section of the Yellow River in the city of Wuzhong to learn about efforts to strengthen ecological protection of the river. The dike project of this section is aimed at tackling problems of floods, severe river course changes and bank collapses. The project is also used for river course arrangement, environmental management and afforestation, significantly improving the ecology along the Yellow River. | 
