ZHENGZHOU, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The flood control headquarters of the Yellow River announced the river entered its 2018-2019 frozen period at 8 a.m. on Friday.

Affected by strong cold air, the section of the river in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region froze four days later than usual. The length of the frozen section is currently about 5 km.

The Ministry of Water Resources has ordered the meteorological and hydrology departments in provinces along the river to take precautions against ice-jam flooding and dam breaches.

The 5,464-km-long Yellow River is the second longest river in China. It rises in the northwestern province of Qinghai and runs through nine provinces and autonomous regions in western, central, northern and eastern China.