[Objective] According to a new mission given by the national strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River basin (abbreviated as “Yellow River National Strategy”), the major challenges faced by soil and water conservation were analyzed in order to provide references for the high quality development of ecological construction in the Yellow River basin.[Methods] Based on the requirements of the “Yellow River National Strategy”, combined with long-term field investigations and academic research results, the development goal of soil and water conservation in the Yellow River basin in the new era was analyzed and considered.[Results] Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, through more than 70 years of management, sediments of the Yellow River has been significantly reduced, and the ecological environment of the basin been improved obviously. However, there are still some problems: ① The imbalance of spatial management, and soil erosion in some areas is still serious; ② The spatial structure of artificial vegetation system is similar, and the ecosystem is unstable; ③ The ecosystem construction lacks the optimal configuration of landscape patterns, which makes it difficult to solve the transformation of the vegetation ecosystem on the Loess Plateau from “green” to “stable” effectively; ④ The functional and mechanism problems of ecological governance are prominent and affects the sustainable development of soil and water conservation. Soil and water conservation in the new era shoulders the new mission of high-quality development, and it is also facing the change of strategic positioning and development mode, as well as the major challenges of updating traditional theoretical connotations and concepts. Therefore, it is urgent to study the key technical problems that seriously restrict the coordinated development of ecological management benefits and ecological economy, and to promote the development of soil and water conservation in the Yellow River basin in the new era.[Conclusion] The implementation of the “Yellow River National Strategy” will greatly promote the development of soil and water conservation in the Yellow River basin. Researches on ecological management of the Yellow River basin should focus on solving a series of key scientific and technological problems of ecological protection and management in high-quality development. The strategic goal of soil and water conservation should be changed from low standard and covering large area to delicate and accurate management, and to enhancing the role of soil and water conservation in promoting high-quality development of the Yellow River basin.