The Supreme People's Court (SPC) held a work meeting on promoting the implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law among courts in provinces and regions along the river on March 28, in Lyuliang, Central China's Shanxi province. President of the SPC Zhang Jun and Vice-President Yang Linping attended and addressed the meeting.

Zhang acknowledged the efforts of the courts in strengthening judicial coordination, rectifying environmental violations and promoting ecological restoration, which have contributed to the high-quality development of the region.

He urged for the full implementation of the Yellow River Protection Law, stronger judicial protection and the restoration of the ecological environment of the region, serving high-quality development with high-quality judicial services, and striving for new contributions to the prosperity of the region and the rejuvenation of the nation. Specifically, efforts are needed in upholding the fundamental principles while breaking new ground, adopting a problem-oriented approach, conducting thorough research and studies, and improving the trial system and mechanisms for environmental resources, in order to enhance judicial capacity on ecological protection and make more contributions to the building of the Chinese path to modernization featuring the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, Zhang said.

Noting that the Yellow River Protection Law is the second law on watershed protection in China after the Yangtze River Protection Law, Yang called for fully leveraging the role of trials on environmental resources and implementing the strictest system to safeguard the overall interests of the country and improve people's livelihoods, as well as enriching and improving preventive, punitive and restorative judicial measures based on the characteristics of judicial protection in the Yellow River basin, in order to guarantee stronger judicial protection in the region.

During the meeting, an initiative on promoting the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin with strong judicial services was signed by representatives of the courts in the region.