Stories of High-Quality Development | Tangible geographic boundaries, intangible coordinated protection

Narrator: Cheng Wei, member of Ma'anshan Fishery Administrative Law Enforcement Detachment in Anhui Province

People who grow up by the river have a special connection to the Yangtze. Since I was a child, my father told me that every plant and tree along the riverbank, and every fish and shrimp in the water, are gifts bestowed upon us by this mother river. Safeguarding the Yangtze River is a seed planted in my heart by my elders.

In 2020, I joined the Ma'anshan Fishery Administrative Law Enforcement Detachment in Anhui Province. That same year, at its 24th session, the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress passed the Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China.

During my work, my colleagues and I found that, due to administrative boundaries, we often faced difficulties in the law enforcement process at the border between Ma'anshan in Anhui Province and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province.

How can we break through regional limitations and jointly protect the Yangtze finless porpoise throughout their entire life cycle? On Oct. 24, 2022, a joint decision formulated by Ma'anshan city in Anhui together with Nanjing and Zhenjiang cities in Jiangsu went into effect to strengthen the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise. This decision improved the systems for protecting the porpoise through the joint efforts of upstream and downstream regions, both banks of the river, various localities and different departments. The three cities have taken the finless porpoise as a bond, coming together to launch a new model of green governance, where all those who drink from the same river join hands to protect the finless porpoise in the Yangtze.

Our three cities have worked closely together, and the fishery law enforcement departments have grown from peers into a family. To date, we have worked with Nanjing to conduct six resource surveys, one rescue operation, and 27 law enforcement supervisions.

The essence of coordinated regional development lies not only in the integration of economic data, but also in joint governance and shared protection of the ecological environment. Safeguarding the "smiles" of the finless porpoise is not only about protecting the Yangtze River, but also about safeguarding the future of high-quality regional development.