River's revival a case study in good governance

On a balmy June afternoon, the banks of the Guitang River hum with life. Joggers pass by on the wooden boardwalks, while families push strollers past cafes and quaint shops. It's a scene that 75-year-old Chen Xiaofan, who lives along the river in Hunan province, sees as nothing short of a miracle.

After all, in the early 2000s, the river in Changsha, the provincial capital, was a black, open sewer — a literal scar on the city's Yuhua district.

Today, the river's water quality has improved from an inferior Grade V to a Grade I or II — suitable for fish and as a source of drinking water. Biodiversity has rebounded, with 425 species now inhabiting the area, including rare fish, wild ducks and egrets.

The transformation is much more than an environmental success story. It has become a key case study in a Party-wide campaign launched in February that redefines what constitutes political success for local officials.

The Guitang River's transformation demonstrates the results of generational efforts made by successive local officials under a governance philosophy based on a key principle: "Gold and silver cups are not as valuable as public reputation".

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has emphasized this principle, stressing the importance of establishing and practicing a correct understanding of governance performance.

Xi, who is also Chinese president, said that communists must bear in mind that working for the people's well-being is their greatest political achievement, and that officials should contribute their share to this cause without taking credit for its success.

Continuous progress

Flowing 28.3 kilometers through a basin of more than 2 million people, the Guitang River was a childhood playground for residents like Deng You, who in the 1980s caught shrimp in its clear waters. However, rapid industrialization meant that the river was exposed to high levels of pollution. By the 1990s, the water quality had plunged to the worst national grade, and the river was placed on a national blacklist of polluted urban waterways.

When early, disjointed cleanup attempts failed in the 1990s, local authorities established a unified governance team in 2016. Since then, a chain of officials has built continuously on their predecessors' work rather than dismantling it to start their own projects.

Deng, deputy director of the Yuhua administrative committee of China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone Changsha area, joined the team as a coordinator. Her mission was to reconcile bureaucracies, demolish illegal structures, repair pipelines and restore the local ecosystem.

"I just wanted my mother river to breathe again — to be what it was in my childhood," she said.

The monumental undertaking saw millions of square meters of illegal construction torn down, every unregulated sewage outlet intercepted, and thousands of tons of fresh water pumped in daily. German experts were also invited to redesign the river's natural curves and bends as well as its ecological zones.

At the end of 2020, Deng passed her baton to Wang Bin, head of the district's river chief office. His role was to act as a bridge between residents, volunteers and government departments, finding and addressing the problems of the river and its surrounding areas in a timely manner.

"Early reports when I took the position were about broken pipes and illegal discharges. Now, residents ask for greener parks and more recreational space," Wang said. "That shift in public complaints is real evidence that our work is paying off."

Yang Weidong, a professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that the governance of the river is a prime example of practicing a correct understanding of governance performance.

"What those officials do is to serve the people and put the public's demands first. They work not for immediate accolades but for long-term, sustainable public welfare," Yang said, adding that the change in the Guitang River shows the true potential of good governance.

Response to public needs

Following the river's environmental recovery, a commercial zone has emerged along its banks, offering communities a place to eat, unwind and enjoy leisure activities. Since last year, the area has seen a fresh wave of revitalization, drawing in young entrepreneurs and cultural-creative hubs, including artisan coffee roasters, bicycle culture studios and even a freshwater museum.

According to Yang, the transformation has responded to public needs at every turn — first for environmental restoration, then for community amenities, and now for jobs and economic vitality.

"At every stage, one conviction has never wavered: The people's genuine acclaim is the real yardstick of achievement," he said, emphasizing that, since the purpose of governance is to serve the people, their assessment and responses are what ultimately count.

The campaign, running through July, urges all Party members to embrace a correct understanding of governance performance. It calls for pragmatic, law-based decision-making, and for concrete outcomes that stand the test of practice and history — outcomes that genuinely serve the people and earn their recognition through solid, well-grounded work.

The initiative also requires solid efforts to address prominent problems, the establishment of sound systems and rules and the improvement of accountability mechanisms, so that institutions can effectively play their role in guiding and motivating the performance of officials.

"When governance is no longer anchored in serving the people, and public reputation ceases to be its yardstick, it will inevitably deviate from the proper track," said Yang.

In June, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-corruption body, disclosed details of five notable cases in which officials were held accountable for incorrectly implementing governance performance.

In one case, when serving as Party secretary of Wen'an county in Hebei province from 2021 to 2024, Ren Huashan was found by the CCDI to have pursued personal accolades through reckless decisions. Despite being aware of funding shortfalls, he launched multiple urban village resettlement projects without due diligence — delaying housing delivery, stranding villagers and leaving wages unpaid.

In February 2022, Ren also pushed ahead with a tourist attraction despite clear land-use and zoning violations. Parts of the project were demolished in September 2023, incurring huge losses.

For these and other serious violations, Ren was expelled from the Party and dismissed from office. His suspected crimes were transferred to prosecutors for further review.

Wang Chengbing received similar punishment. The CCDI found that, while holding the position of Party secretary in Jinxi county in Jiangxi province, Wang had prioritized economic growth over environmental safeguards by allowing heavily polluting chemical plants to be set up, weakening regulatory enforcement and ignoring persistent public complaints, thereby allowing a pollution crisis to fester.

Yang, from China University of Political Science and Law, warned that these are typical cases of distorted governance values. He said that the cost is not just wasted public funds, but also eroded public trust and a loss of public reputation.

He pointed out that the baseline of a correct governance philosophy is to abide by rules and never lose sight of the people.

"For officials who aim higher, the challenge lies in sharpening their governance know-how, translating national policies into tangible solutions for local communities, and steering growth that lasts," Yang said.