China officially published its “Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the Lake Chief System for the Governance of Rivers and Lakes”. The document requires this system to be established across the country by the end of 2018, and necessitates government leaders assume full responsibility for bodies of water in the areas they oversee.
In 2017, China achieved great progress implementing an across-the-board river chief system. Work programmes were developed at the provincial, municipal, county and township levels, while six supporting systems were established. In total, 310,000 township river chiefs and 62,000 village-level river chiefs were appointed.
The lake chief system is an initiative proposed at the first meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reforms following the 19th CPC National Congress. Experts believe the initiative will help China seeking a more harmonious coexistence between man, nature and ecological civilization. It will also be another step towards building a beautiful China.
Zhang Huiyuan, a researcher at the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said that as a timely and necessary supplement to the river chief system, the lake chief system is of great significance. The dual systems creatively concentrate the once-scattered responsibility of water environment protection and administration into the hands of local governments.(People’s Daily Overseas Edition)