Visitors walk along a corridor to enjoy the lotus flower in Baiyangdian Lake on July 17, 2018. [Photo by Cui Can/China.org.cn]

Since 2012, the authorities have closed more than 27 polluting factories around Baiyangdian, and guided 68 companies to install sewage treatment facilities and other environmental protection devices. A total of 149 wastewater treatment stations have been established at 45 villages in the areas around the lake, according to officials from Baiyangdian Wetland Nature Reserve Administration.

Ecological experts have said the water level of Baiyangdian Lake should be maintained at between 7.5 and 8.5 meters, which currently sits at about 6 meters. However, the lake has received 100 million cubic meters of water from the central route of the South-to-North Water Diversion project earlier this year, which would help maintain its base water level.

In addition, improving water quality of the lake is listed as part of the master plan for Xiongan New Area that was released this April. The document says that priority shall go to ecological protection while the new area is pursuing green development.

"Ecological protection and green development must be put first," said Wu Hequan, a member of an expert committee on the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

"We will build Xiongan New Area into a model city in the history of human development, and never pursue this development at the cost of environment."

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