The State Council approved a national territorial spatial plan for Qinghai province for the 2021-2035 period, according to an official reply published on Dec 29.

According to the reply, by 2035, the total area of cultivated land in Qinghai should be no less than 8.387 million mu, of which the protection area for permanent basic farmland will be no less than 7.37 million mu, and the red line area for ecological protection should not be less than 296,400 square kilometers.

In addition to promoting strategies of western development, ecological protection along the Yellow River Basin, and high-quality development, the reply also stressed the construction of Lanzhou-Xining city cluster, coordinated development with city clusters such as the Guanzhong Plain, areas along the Yellow River in Ningxia, and the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountain, as well as the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Major functions of safeguarding national ecological security should be enhanced, with the protection of the Sanjiangyuan area as a top priority, said the reply, adding that measures should be taken to treat water and soil erosion, steadily improve water conservation capacity, and develop facility agriculture in a scientific way.

Efforts should also be made to improve the protection mechanism for cultural, natural heritage, form a spatial system for holistic protection of cultural, natural, landscape resources, and build international eco-tourism destinations with local cultural characteristics, according to the reply.

The reply also specified that the plan must be strictly carried out without any random modification or illegal alteration.