President Xi Jinping speaks in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, on Nov 13, 2020, as he stands along the Grand Canal, a vast waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China. He was on an inspection tour to check on environmental and cultural inheritance protection. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

President Xi Jinping on Thursday inspected the environmental protection of the Yangtze River during a trip to Nantong, Jiangsu province.

In recent years, China has intensified its work to protect the environment of the Yangtze River, a highly important river in the history and development of the Chinese nation

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visited a riverside district that includes 14 kilometers of the Yangtze's riverbank. He noted that he had been in the district in 1978 and praised local efforts in overhauling the area by turning places that used to be dirty and eyesores into green belts in parks.

In 2016, Nantong authorities began to restore the environment of the riverside district by doing things such as closing 203 small, poorly managed and heavily polluting enterprises and relocating 2,508 homes.

Xi said a happy life is achieved through the hard work of all.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects local efforts in improving the overall environment along the shoreline of the Yangtze River, as well as the enforcement of fishing ban policies, at a riverside district in the city of Nantong, east China's Jiangsu province, Nov 12, 2020. (JU PENG / XINHUA)

In recent years, China has intensified its work to protect the environment of the Yangtze River, a highly important river in the history and development of the Chinese nation. On Jan 1, China started a 10-year fishing ban on key areas of the Yangtze to protect the biodiversity of the country's longest river.

When Xi visited Nantong Museum later on Thursday, he praised Zhang Jian, a late Chinese industrialist, as a model for all Chinese private entrepreneurs.

Zhang, who founded the museum in 1905, was also an educator in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

ALSO READ: Xi sends letter to China forum on global legal cooperation

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits Nantong Museum in the city of Nantong, east China's Jiangsu province, Nov 12, 2020. (JU PENG / XINHUA)

Zhang established a total of 34 companies that covered many different sectors, including cotton textiles, agriculture and husbandry, liquor-making and banking. He also developed education by establishing different types of schools such as preschools and vocational schools and devoted himself to public welfare activities.

Noting that Zhang's work had profoundly benefited the nation, Xi said the museum should be turned into a center for patriotic education among the public, especially the country's youth, so that they will have firm confidence in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects local efforts in improving the overall environment along the shoreline of the Yangtze River, as well as the enforcement of fishing ban policies, at a riverside district in the city of Nantong, east China's Jiangsu province, Nov 12, 2020. (JU PENG / XINHUA)

Xi on Friday inspected the city of Yangzhou on the second leg of his tour of Jiangsu province.

Xi arrived in Jiangsu on Thursday afternoon after the 30th anniversary of the development and opening-up of Shanghai's Pudong New Area.

It was Xi's first domestic inspection tour following the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee held at the end of last month.

Xinhua contributed to this story.