On March, 24^th, the Co- Innovation Center for State Governance of Hubei Province was unveiled in HUST where the Summit on the Ecological Protection and Development Strategy of the Yangtze River was held at the same time. Experts and Scholars from home and abroad gathered to contribute to the promotion of the ecological development of the Yangtze River.

In his letter to Summit on the Ecological Protection and Development Strategy of the Yangtze River, Li Hongzhong the Secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee pointed out that, the Yangtze river basin has become one of the most developed and dynamic regions of Chinese economy with the largest density. Hubei boasts the longest mainline of the Yangtze River and is the core water source region of the middle line of South-to-North water diversion Project. So we should explore a green development route ensuring both economic development and ecological protection of Yangzi River.

HUST President Ding Lieyun pointed out that the establishment of the Co-Innovation Center for State Governance of Hubei Province is a symbolic event of HUST. He hoped that the center would become a national thinking tank, offering intelligent support to the economic and social development of Hubei Province and the promotion of state governance modernization.

This conference has another importance agenda, namely the expert summit on the ecological protection and development strategy of the Yangtze River. It’s hoped that the attendees had an in-depth discussion on the development of the Yangtze River economic belt and the ecological protection there, contributing their part to the realization of a green Yangtze River.

As a conclusion, Prof. Ou Yangkang put forwards the vision for the further conduction of research on the ecological protection of the Yangtze River; firstly, to reflect on the influence of human activities on the biosphere and explore how to achieve the harmonious co-existence of human beings and the nature; secondly, to generalize the historical ideas and strategic planning focusing on the Yangtze River; thirdly, to comb the evolution of ideas for the Yangtze River development and make an in-depth contemplation of the composite effect of the major engineering in the Yangtze River; fourthly, to systematically discover the current problems existing in the protection and development of the Yangtze River; fifthly, to draw on the international experience and lessons and form an international outlook; sixthly, to think about the multifunctional orientation of the Yangtze River; Seventhly, to formulate the top-layer design of the Yangtze River ecological protection and development and cope well with multiple relations, including the relation between protection and development, between benefit and harm, between input and output as well as the relationship among politics, economy, society and ecology, among up reaches, middle reaches and lower reaches, among ecology, life and production and among government, market and society.