A beautiful view of Shazhou Lake, Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province [Photo/WeChat account: zjgsrmzf]

Zhangjiagang in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, has abundant water resources, and in recent years, the city has rolled out "river chief" and "lake chief" systems to prevent water pollution, and these have produced remarkable results, local media reported May 18.

To better protect its ecology, the city manages its 29 main rivers and lakes with a four-level system: municipal, county, township and village. The "river chief" and "lake chief" systems were rolled out to assign each waterway a specific steward in charge of preventing pollution.

Focused on strengthening management of the city's water sources, improving the quality of black and smelly water bodies, and promoting the renovation of the Yangtze River and its tributaries, Zhangjiagang has renovated more than 200 polluted water bodies , put an end to 151 illegal wharves, and removed more than 600,000 square kilometers of water area due to unauthorized use and construction.

Thanks to the continuous efforts of the local government, the average water quality of the city's 19 Yangtze River tributaries was at or above grade III, the third-highest in China's five-tier quality system for surface water.