The city of Suzhou and Wuxi have appointed heads of 45 counties or districts, townships and villages river chief for Wangyu River, the boundary river between the two cities.
The Wangyu River, one of the major rivers leading into the Taihu Lake, plays an important role in shipping, water supply and water navigation.
Authorities in Suzhou and Wuxi have broken the administrative restraints to promote water pollution treatment through in-depth cooperation in all aspects and at multiple levels.
The river chief system will ensure that both sides will send joint patrol and monitoring agents for law enforcement so as to provide replicable experiences and pioneering role in cross-border river and lake management in the Taihu Basin and integration of ecological and environmental protection in the Yangtze River Delta.
China has appointed top officials at different levels of government as chiefs of rivers all across the county.
While government officials will be hired as river chiefs at provincial, prefecture, county and township levels, heads of provincial regions will be general chiefs that are responsible for all rivers and lakes in their region.
