A press conference was jointly held by the standing committees of the Zhongshan Municipal People's Congress and Zhuhai Municipal People's Congress on December 19 to introduce the collaborative protection regulations for the Qianshan River basin in Zhongshan.

The regulations, which will take effect on January 1, 2025, are the first achievement made on collaborative legislation in ecological civilization construction in Guangdong Province.

The Qianshan River basin starts from Zhongshan's Wuguishan Mountains, extends across Zhongshan's Sanxiang Town and Tanzhou Town and Zhuhai's Xiangzhou District, and enters the sea through the Modaomen Waterway, with a total length of 23 kilometers and a catchment area of about 328 square kilometers. It is the main floodway in southern Zhongshan and the key drinking water intake of Zhuhai and Macao. The river has witnessed the historical changes and prosperity of Zhuhai and Zhongshan and is of great significance to the people of the two cities.

Through collaborative legislation, Zhuhai and Zhongshan can not only elevate the previous effective practices on the cooperative governance of the Qianshan River basin to fixed rules and regulations but also resolve the existing problems.

The regulations mark the two cities have established joint conference system, dispute consultation mechanism and opinion solicitation mechanism and provide guidance on eco-environment conservation, water safety protection, daily supervision and emergency response. Meanwhile, the regulations put requirements on establishing mechanisms for water dispatching and salt tide defense, so as to ensure water resource security.

At the press conference, relevant departments of the two cities gave a comprehensive introduction to and answered questions on the background, significance, main content and implementation measures of the regulations.