LEGENDARY ARTIST: An exhibition of the works by Liu Kaiqu(1904-93), a pioneering Chinese sculptor and educator in the 20th century, is being held at the National Museum of China on September 30 in Beijing (FILES)

Repairing the Ecosystem

Over 7 million rare fish have been released into the upper reaches of the Yellow River, China's second largest, since 2009 to help to repair its ecosystem, according to local fishery authorities.

Qinghai Province in the northwest, where the Yellow River and Yangtze River originate, plans to release around 900,000 rare, captive-bred, native fish this year in order to replenish stocks, Wang Guojie, Deputy Chief of the province's fishery environment supervision office, revealed.

The Ministry of Agriculture, which is also in charge of fishery affairs, announced in 2007 that one third of the 150 fish species in the Yellow River were believed to be extinct due to human encroachment and low rainfall.

Over fishing, dumping and hydropower projects degraded the environment and led to a shrinking fish population. In Qinghai, there are 22 fish species native to the rivers there, with many of them being found only on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

Qinghai has plans to build more fish farms and expand the project's release area.

New Marine Satellites

China will launch a new "constellation" of marine surveillance satellites in 2019 to monitor ships, oil rigs, marine disasters and land-based resources.

According to Lin Mingsen, Deputy Director of the National Satellite Ocean Application Service, the HY-3 cluster will include a series of satellites that employ synthetic aperture radar technology, "capable of operating day or night... and in all weather conditions." The satellites will be able to see meter-long objects from space and generate high-definition imagery of both land and ocean surfaces, Lin said.

He said the satellites would be used to monitor ships and drilling platforms, in addition to marine oil spills, sea ice, ocean waves and surface winds among other features.