WUHAN, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- China has developed a scientific strategy for Yangtze River governance over the past decade or so, with ecological protection and green development at its core, according to a think tank report released on Friday.

The high-level ecological protection of the Yangtze River and the high-quality development along the Yangtze River Economic Belt have served the country's broader goal of advancing Chinese modernization, said the report released by Xinhua Institute, a think tank affiliated with Xinhua News Agency, at the ongoing 2025 Great Rivers Forum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.

Revered as the "mother river" of the Chinese nation, the Yangtze River is China's longest waterway, sustaining a number of the country's economic powerhouses, megacities and major rice-producing areas.

In the past, the Yangtze River suffered from severe pollution and ecological damage due to a "rush to develop" approach. The situation changed when China introduced new guidelines for Yangtze River governance, emphasizing "ecological priority, green development, joint protection and no excessive development."

Over the past decade, local authorities along the Yangtze River have earnestly implemented the guidelines, making the restoration of the Yangtze River's ecological environment an overriding priority.

Practices that once sacrificed the environment for short-term, local economic gains have been abandoned. Obsolete capacities have been gradually phased out, while advanced and green industries have been cultivated.

The Yangtze River Protection Law, the country's first basin-specific law, came into effect on March 1, 2021, providing legal support for the scientific, green and high-quality development of the Yangtze River Basin.

It has become a widely accepted social consensus along the Yangtze River that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," the report said, noting that a more balanced relationship between economic and social development, population, resources, and the environment has taken shape.

According to the Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Report (2023-2024) by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the average per capita disposable income of urban residents across the 11 provinces and municipalities in the belt reached 53,992 yuan (about 7,588 U.S. dollars) in 2023, representing a year-on-year growth of 6.26 percent. ■