The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) committees of the 12 provinces and municipalities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt held their fifth consultative seminar in Yueyang, Central China's Hunan province, from Sept 26 to 27, on the ecological protection of the Yangtze River and the high-quality development of the economic belt. 

Shen Yueyue, vice-chairwoman of the CPPCC National Committee, gave a keynote address to the meeting. 

The leading officials of the 12 CPPCC committees shared insights on the topics at hand, while officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration provided updates and engaged in consultations with the attending members. 

Noting the importance of the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the meeting stressed the CPPCC's role as a specialized consultative body in promoting the high-quality development of the region. Efforts should be made to improve consultation mechanisms, strengthen democratic oversight, and build broad consensus and pool efforts in this regard, according to the meeting. 

Attendees also made field visits to the Yangtze River coastline and surveyed the ecological protection and governance of the East Dongting Lake wetland.