CCTV:

Over the past seven years of implementing the river chief system, what measures has the MWR taken, and what progress has been made? How have the conditions of the rivers and lakes changed? Thank you.

Chen Min:

I will take this question. First, I would like to thank you for your interest in the river chief system, which is a major institutional innovation. Over the past seven years since the implementation of the system, the MWR has taken a series of measures and achieved significant results.

We achieved results in building a system of responsibility. The system of responsibility resting with the Party and government officials is the cornerstone of the river chief responsibility system. The 31 provincial-level river chiefs are mainly figures from Party committees and government. Over 1.2 million river and lake chiefs have been appointed across the five tiers of province, city, county, township and village to ensure that every river is under management. A dynamic adjustment and responsibility replacement mechanism has been established to ensure the continuous accountability of river chiefs. 

We made progress in terms of improving the working mechanisms. Provincial-level river chief joint conference mechanisms have been established for the seven basins of the Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huai River, Hai River, Pearl River, Songhua River-Liaohe River and Taihu Lake, coordinating joint prevention, control and treatment efforts upstream and downstream, on both sides of the rivers, as well as the main streams and tributaries. The "river chief plus police chief" and "river chief plus prosecutor" mechanisms have been effectively utilized to strengthen the connection between water administration enforcement and criminal justice, and to collaborate with public interest litigation by prosecutors, thereby addressing key issues in water administration enforcement.

We yielded results in advancing protection and management. The advantages of the river chief system have been fully leveraged to tackle issues with rivers and lakes. Over 240,000 cases of illegal occupation, mining, piling and construction have been addressed. Illegal constructions of 146 million square meters have been demolished, 98 million metric tons of garbage cleared, and over 18,000 illegal sand dredging ships dealt with. Various specialized actions for river and lake protection have been carried out, such as the Yangtze River shoreline utilization cleanup project, restoring 162 kilometers of the Yangtze's shoreline, and greening 12.25 million square meters. The specialized management of Danjiangkou Reservoir has restored 14.48 million cubic meters of flood control capacity and removed 24,400 square meters of net cages.

We delivered results in creating "happy" rivers and lakes. Happy rivers and lakes refer to modern rivers and lakes that meet the requirements of high-quality development in the new era — safe, clean, healthy, ecologically livable, harmonious, prosperous and beneficial to the people. So far, more than 9,800 health assessments on rivers and lakes have been completed, and health records have been established. In cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, support has been provided for 62 happy river and lake construction projects, leading to the creation of over 3,200 such rivers and lakes nationwide. As a result, the rivers and lakes around the people now flow more smoothly, and are cleaner, greener and more beautiful, enhancing the sense of gain, happiness and security.

Thank you.