Drones and robots among high-tech measures cleaning up Yangtze

Besides the Taizhou section, the 6,300-km-long Yangtze is protected by many other high-tech methods and pollution-control measures.

In April, a guideline was released on improving sewage treatment to promote green development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

In June, Chongqing began using liquefied natural gas ships for transportation. The ships, with a length of 110 meters, width of 19.2 meters and weight of 7,000 metric tons, are expected to help in the green development of the Yangtze.

Compared with diesel-powered ships, the LNG vessels drastically reduce nitrogen oxide, PM2.5 and sulfur oxide emissions. The LNG ships also consume 10 percent less fuel than the diesel ones.

Provinces and municipalities along the Yangtze have helped promote the use of LNG ships. Jiangsu has built almost 100 LNG ships, while Huzhou in Zhejiang province has set up 273 facilities for the vessels.

The Yangtze, with a 1.8 million-square-km basin, boasts a rich and complex terrain and has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world.

Since 2016, protecting the environment of the Yangtze, rather than large-scale development, has become the focus of river development plans.

National environmental management organs and governments along the waterway should take measures to prevent water pollution and supervise river resources, according to the Yangtze River conservation law.

Xinhua