What they say

Yao Weiping, head of the ecology and environment bureau in Tongxiang, Zhejiang province

Zhejiang has taken the lead in implementing the "river chief" program in China, and the cities of Jiaxing and Tongxiang are front-runners within the province. Tongxiang (which is part of Jiaxing) has 2,350 river sections that are monitored. In 2012, we realized full coverage by river chiefs in all of Jiaxing's towns and villages. Be it the mayor, town head or village chief, everyone is a river chief. Every one of them has a river to patrol and has a duty to help detect latent problems and solve them. This has become a routine for local officials.