The province of Shandong has been strengthening efforts to implement the national strategy for the environmental protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin, said local officials.

Ninety-three projects receiving a total of 42.7 billion yuan ($6.57 billion) in investment started construction in the province's nine cities along the Yellow River on March 13.

Oriental white storks perch on artificial nests in a nature reserve in Dongying, Shandong province, on March 8, 2021. The Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve had witnessed the births of nearly 2,000 oriental white storks by last year, making it the largest breeding ground for the species. [Photo by Zhou Guangxue/For China Daily]

The projects, involving wetland protection and restoration, biodiversity conservation, the ecological restoration of beach and lake areas, and more, will contribute greatly to the environmental protection of the Yellow River basin, said local officials.

The Yellow River, known as China's "Mother River" and the cradle of early Chinese civilization, runs through nine provinces and autonomous regions. It empties into the Bohai Sea in Dongying, Shandong province.

The river basin has a drainage area of more than 752,000 square kilometers and sustains a population of 420 million people, or 30.3 percent of the nation's total population. It had a GDP of 2.39 trillion yuan, or 26.5 percent of the national total, as of the end of 2018.