Cargo is loaded at the Rizhao Port, Shandong province. [ZHANG JINGANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

According to the provincial government work report, Shandong will continue to implement the coordinated regional development strategy to form a territorial space system that complements each other's strengths and promotes high-quality development.

The ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin are a major national strategy.

Dong Yanling, director of the Regional Economic Research Institute at Shandong University of Finance and Economics, said that Shandong, where the Yellow River flows into the Bohai Sea after zigzagging through nine provincial regions, shoulders the mission and responsibility to ensure the safety and peace of the Yellow River.

Shandong should intensify efforts in the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin as well as in implementing other national strategies, Dong said. 

Ma Fuyi, deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Natural Resources, talked about the "systematic treatment" of the basin, which features the restoration and conservation of water, air and soil.

Last year, Shandong took the lead among provinces along the Yellow River in introducing ecological water replenishment management measures and plans for the Yellow River, providing 200 million cubic meters of water to estuaries. The average annual water supply increased by more than three times from 2010 to 2020.

Land and sea resources can be developed as a whole, which is the unique advantage of Shandong's development. This year, Shandong will also work to create new breakthroughs in the development of the marine economy.