The State Council has approved the national territorial spatial plan for the Yellow River basin for the 2021-2035 period, according to an official reply released on April 8.

The plan outlines key targets to strengthen the spatial foundation for safe development, by 2035, including maintaining the total area of cultivated land in the Yellow River basin at least 259.2171 million mu, of which the protection area for permanent basic farmland should be at least 215.4488 million mu and the red line area for ecological protection should be no less than 396,000 square kilometers.

To support the new development paradigm, the plan emphasizes the integration of the Yellow River basin into the BRI cooperation and strengthens the coordinated development with major strategic regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Yangtze River Delta.

The reply also calls for optimizing the development and protection of territorial space, particularly in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, where enhanced regional linkages and integrated development among city clusters in the Shandong Peninsula, the Central Plains, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the Yangtze River Delta, will take place. Additionally, the plan includes building a modern infrastructure network and improving disaster prevention, mitigation and relief infrastructure in response to climate change and extreme weather, so as to comprehensively increase the resilience of China's territorial space.