Ships navigate in the Yangtze river, Dec. 3, 2009. The Yangtze River, the longest river in China linking the western, eastern and central regions, whose main channel coursing over a distance of 2,800 kms, has long been famed as the "golden channel" as it serves as a key factor in inter-province business navigating and the regional economy. A total package of 43 billion yuan (6.3 billion U.S. dollars) investment is to be put into an improvement project of the Yangtze River Channel by 2020, according to a State Council plan. (Xinhua File Photo/Zhou Hengyi) Photo Gallery>>>

    XINING, Jan 6 (Xinhua) -- The glacier at the source of Yangtze River in China's southwest Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has obviously retreated since 2004, said an official at Qinghai Provincial Center for Remote Sensing, Wednesday.

    The three sections of the glacier shrank from 197.75 square kilometers, 702 square kilometers and 85.5 square kilometers in 2004 to 173.75 square kilometers, 635.73 square kilometers and 77.25 square kilometers in 2009, said Li Xiaodong, assistant engineer of the provincial center.

    The glacier is located in the Geladaindong Mountain area in Mongolian-Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Haixi.