CCTV News: According to the website of the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Water Resources recently organized and completed the national soil erosion dynamic monitoring work in 2024. The results show that the national soil erosion area dropped to 2.6019 million square kilometers, a decrease of 25,700 square kilometers from 2023, a decrease of 0.98%. The proportion of moderate and above erosion area decreased from 34.54% in 2023 to 34.26%, and the soil and water conservation rate increased from 72.56% to 72.83%. The monitoring results show that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, the Ministry of Water Resources, in conjunction with relevant departments and local party committees and governments at all levels, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's ecological civilization thought, actively practice General Secretary Xi Jinping's water management idea "water conservation priority, spatial balance, systematic governance, and two-hand efforts" and the spirit of important water management statements, conscientiously implement the "Opinions on Strengthening Soil and Water Conservation Work in the New Era" of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, adhere to ecological priority and systematic governance, Comprehensive measures, reform and innovation, and accelerate the comprehensive prevention and control of soil erosion and the construction of a beautiful China. The soil erosion situation in my country has steadily improved, and the intensity of soil erosion area continues to show a good trend of "double decline" in the intensity of soil erosion and "double reduction" in water erosion and wind erosion. The ecological environment is stable and improving, and the soil and water conservation rate has been further improved. The soil erosion situation in 31 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government), major national strategic areas, river basins and key areas of attention have been effectively improved, and the construction of ecological civilization has achieved remarkable results.

In terms of type, my country's hydraulic erosion area is 1.051 million square kilometers and wind erosion area is 1.5509 million square kilometers, accounting for 40.39% and 59.61% of the total soil erosion area respectively. The area of ​​hydraulic erosion was reduced by 20,400 square kilometers, a decrease of 1.90%, and the area of ​​wind erosion was reduced by 5,300 square kilometers, a decrease of 0.34%. The area and reduction of hydraulic erosion are higher than that of wind erosion.

From the perspective of major national strategic areas, the soil erosion situation in major national strategic areas such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta Regional Integrated Development Planning Area, and the Yellow River Basin Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development Planning Area continues to improve, and the reduction in soil erosion area is higher than the national average. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region had the highest decline, at 2.48%, which is 2.53 times the national average decline. The reduction in the Yangtze River Economic Belt was 1.85%; the reduction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was 1.92%; the reduction in the Yangtze River Delta regional integrated development planning area was 1.38%; the reduction in the Yellow River Basin ecological protection and high-quality development planning area was 1.52%, of which the reduction in the Northwest Loess Plateau reached 2.19%.

From the key areas of focus, the soil erosion area in the Northeast Black Soil Area, the southwest stone desertification area, and the Three Gorges Reservoir Area decreased by 1.33%, 1.72%, and 2.21% respectively compared with 2023. The Danjiangkou Reservoir Area, its upstream basin, and the water source area of ​​the South-to-North Water Diversion Project were reduced by 2.30% and 3.38%. The decline in the Three Norths, dominated by wind erosion, was 0.73%, and the scope of application of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law of the People's Republic of China and the reduction in soil erosion area of ​​Sanjiangyuan National Park was 0.76% and 0.69% respectively.

From the perspective of the river basins, soil erosion is showing a trend of improvement. The total soil erosion area of ​​the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Haihe River, Pearl River, Songhua River, Liao River, Southeast and Southwest rivers basins is 1.0492 million square kilometers, of which the hydraulic erosion area is 872,100 square kilometers and the wind erosion area is 177,100 square kilometers. The overall reduction in soil erosion area in Dajiang River Basin was 1.76%, and the reduction in each basin was higher than the national average. my country's major river basins contributed 73.19% of the total area of ​​soil erosion reduction in the country in 2024, 86.58% of the total area of ​​hydraulic erosion reduction in the country, and 90.65% of the total area of ​​hydraulic erosion reduction in the country and above, demonstrating that the implementation of the national "river strategy" plays a decisive role in improving the national soil erosion situation.

At the same time, the Ministry of Water Resources insists on using the strictest systems and the strictest rule of law to protect soil and water resources, and regards the implementation of artificial soil and water erosion supervision as the top priority, continues to improve the regulatory systems and standards, innovate and improve the regulatory mechanism, strengthen coordinated supervision, and actively apply new regulatory means such as remote sensing supervision, credit supervision, and Internet + supervision to comprehensively monitor, timely discover, accurately identify, and strictly investigate and punish illegal and irregular behaviors of artificial soil and water erosion, and continuously improve the accuracy and effectiveness of supervision. In 2024, the incidence of artificial soil erosion and erosion intensity of national anthropogenic soil erosion continued to decline, and the incidence of soil erosion in anthropogenic disturbed plots dropped to 46.65%, a decrease of 31 percentage points from 2019. The proportion of strong and above soil erosion areas decreased from 31.52% in 2019 to 15.84%.

In the next step, the Ministry of Water Resources will thoroughly implement Xi Jinping's ecological civilization thought and the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on water control, earnestly perform the statutory responsibilities related to soil and water conservation, fully implement the "Opinions on Strengthening Soil and Water Conservation Work in the New Era" of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, implement major national strategies such as the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, coordinate the protection and management of large rivers, comprehensively strengthen the prevention and protection of river source areas, accelerate the comprehensive management of soil erosion in key areas such as the Yangtze River and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, the black soil area in the northeast, and the stone desertification in the southwest, and actively build a coordinated pattern of ecological protection and coordination in the basin. Vigorously promote the comprehensive management of small river basins, reclamation of sloping farmland, and construction of ecologically clean small river basins, and comprehensively improve soil and water conservation functions and ecological product supply capacity. Adhere to the principle of determining greening by water, adapt to local conditions and scientifically promote the protection and restoration of vegetation in the western region. Increase the intensity of supervision and law enforcement of soil and water conservation, establish a strict supervision system and supervision system, crack down on illegal and irregular behaviors, resolutely prevent and control artificial soil erosion and ecological damage, and promote the reduction of soil erosion at the source and the conservation and intensive use of resources. Actively promote the value transformation of soil and water conservation ecological products, realize the benign interaction between ecological benefits and economic benefits, and make more green waters and green mountains become gold and silver mountains. Comprehensively strengthen basic capabilities such as soil and water conservation planning, monitoring, and science and technology, and strive to promote high-quality development of soil and water conservation, and provide strong support for promoting harmonious coexistence between man and nature.