The draft law on the protection of the Yellow River was first submitted to the 32nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberation on the 20th. The Yellow River protection law will be a law to promote the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. It will also be another basin law formulated by China after the Yangtze River Protection Law. When explaining the draft at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Li Guoying, Minister of water resources, introduced that the Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, and protecting the Yellow River is a grand plan related to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. At present, there are still some prominent difficulties and problems in the Yellow River Basin. From the institutional level, there are mainly problems that the management system of the Yellow River Basin needs to be improved, the planning coordination and connection is not enough, the control measures need to be strengthened, as well as ecological protection and restoration, rigid constraints on water resources, water and sediment regulation and flood control safety, pollution prevention and control system need to be improved, which urgently need to be solved by formulating the Yellow River Protection Law. The general idea of this legislation is: stick to highlighting the key points and make special provisions on ecological protection and restoration, economical and intensive utilization of water resources, water and sediment regulation and flood control safety; Adhere to the problem orientation and take special institutional measures for specific areas and problems according to the current situation and characteristics of less water and more sediment, uncoordinated water sediment relationship and fragile ecological environment of the Yellow River; Adhere to overall planning, pay attention to strengthening mutual promotion and progress with regional coordinated development strategies such as the western development and the rise of central China, and balance the relationship between protection and development, protection and utilization. The draft consists of 11 chapters and 105 articles. The draft stipulates that the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, as well as all kinds of production, living, development and construction activities, shall abide by this law. The Yellow River Basin as mentioned in this Law refers to the relevant county-level administrative regions of nine provinces and regions including Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong involved in the catchment areas of the main stream, tributaries and lakes of the Yellow River. The draft focuses on the prominent problems in the Yellow River Basin and stipulates corresponding institutional measures around planning and control, ecological protection and restoration, economical and intensive utilization of water resources, water and sediment regulation and flood control safety, pollution prevention and control, high-quality development, inheritance, promotion, guarantee and supervision of the Yellow River Culture. In addition, the draft sets strict legal liabilities for acts in violation of the provisions of this Law and makes good connection with relevant laws and administrative regulations. (reporter Liu Shiping, Wang Yueyang) (outlook new era)