Haizhu implemented the river chief system in 2017 and has an office and special agency for the system to prevent water pollution.

It also has 171 three-level (district, street and village) river chiefs, 1,602 water control grid staff and 54 private river chiefs. Their focus is to protect the water environment. When Haizhu demolished illegal constructions along the Nanji River, river chiefs worked to convince residents of the necessity and demolished their own buildings as models.

Since Haizhu uses the "1+18+N" model in its river chief system, it has managed to crack six water-related violations, detain eight people, and arrest four people, deterring water-related violations and was receiving praise from the Guangdong Provincial Government.

It also installed surveillance cameras at important drainage outlets of rivers for round-the-clock supervision and found a total of six cases of illegal discharge of mud water and registered six cases.

Haizhu has cleaned and rectified 155 disorderly places, 32 farmer's markets, 10 garbage compression stations, nine village-level industrial parks, and 19,000 metric tons of sundries. In 2020, its average water quality reached class III for the first time.

As the model ecological belt in Guangdong, the Yuejiang ecological belt in Haizhu is popular among tourists due to its beautiful scenery and unique culture.

The Yuejiang ecological belt in Haizhu. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]