From 1988 to 2002, the course of the Yellow River section in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has continued moving eastwards, up to 2.7 kilometers.

This discovery was made by the Ningxia remote sensing center by comparing the lands at data provided by the United States in 1987, 1999 and 2000.

It is obvious that river course of the Yellow River section in the Yinchuan plain has kept moving eastwards from 1988 to 1999.

The tectonic processes of the earth had kept pushing the river course eastwards, said Wu Jiamin, deputy director of the remote sensing center.

"The enormous force kept lifting the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which raised the Helan Mountain and then pushed the Yinchuan Plain. As a result, the course of the Yellow River kept moving eastwards," said Wu.

According to Wu, the eastward movement of the Yellow course has lasted for at least 800,000 years.

The Yellow River is the second longest river in China, and flows through nine provinces and autonomous regions of the country.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2003)