A project supporting the environmental protection of Lyuliang Mountain in North China's Shanxi province was recently included in the national list of key integrated protection and restoration projects for mountains, rivers, forests, farmland, lakes, grasslands, and sandy areas. It will receive 2 billion yuan ($27.73 billion) of national financial support. 

Covering 14 counties, county-level cities, and districts in the three prefecture-level cities of Lyuliang, Linfen, and Yuncheng, the project includes 62 sub-projects, with a total investment of 5.51 billion yuan. 

Through its implementation, Shanxi plans to conduct scientific afforestation, steadily control land desertification, and comprehensively manage the gullies and rivers that directly flow into the Yellow River on the western foot of Lyuliang Mountain. 

The project is expected to increase the rate of soil erosion control in the project area by 10 percent, reduce the annual input of sediment into the Yellow River by 20 million metric tons, increase the area of forest and grassland by more than 3 percent, significantly enhance water conservation capacity, and effectively protect biodiversity.