Aerial photo taken on July 10, 2020 shows the landscape at a section of the Yellow River in Hualong Hui Autonomous County in Haidong City, Northwest China's Qinghai Province. Photo: Xinhua

China will focus on investigating and rectifying sewage discharge along the Yellow River and Chishui River in 2021 and will crack down on illegal, random, and direct discharge of sewage into the rivers, the Chinese environment management authority said on Wednesday.

"The work will manage the sewage discharge through a systematic method by linking the work with construction of pipes along the river, improvement of sewage treatment capacity, and utilization of water resources," Cao Liping, Director of the enforcement office of China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment(MEE), mentioned on a press conference on Wednesday.

Since 2019, to improve the protection of the environment along the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Bohai Sea, on the east coast of the Chinese mainland, the MEE carried out a survey of sewage discharge with on-site inspection, and expert quality control.

In total, there were 60,292 sewage discharge points along the Yangtze River, 12,656 along the Yellow River, and 18,886 in the Bohai Sea.

On March 26, the MEE launched the investigation and remediation campaign of sewage discharge in the Yellow River, which is planned to be completed within two years. The rectification plan is set to be finished by the end of 2025.