The Yangtze River, the world's third longest river, traverses China's eastern,

central and western regions, joining the coast with inland areas and providing

rich resources to people along its length.In 2014, Premier Li Keqiang

advocated the building of an economic belt along the Yangtze River to underpin

China's sustainable economic development, saying that it can provide huge new

development stimuli for more than a fifth of the country's land and about 600

million people.The plan's top priority is the protection of the

ecological environment, since unprecedented economic growth, combined with the

expansion of industries and rapid urbanization, has put a severe strain on the

river.So how difficult is it for provinces with differing development

levels to cooperate under the plan? And what are the environmental challenges

facing the region?For more, I had the chance to speak with Mr. Lei Gang, Senior Director of WWF China, Living Yangtze River

Program, and Professor Zhu Ying, Director of the Australian Centre for Asian

Business, at the University of South Australia Business

School.