Sichuan and Chongqing Jointly Issue Beautiful China Pilot Zone Plan, Deploying Industrial Park Water Pollution Control Actions

The Sichuan Provincial People's Government and the Chongqing Municipal People's Government have jointly issued the Implementation Plan for Building a Beautiful China Pilot Zone in the Sichuan-Chongqing Region (Document No. Chuan Fu Fa [2026] No. 22), instructing governments at all levels and relevant departments in both jurisdictions to implement it in light of local conditions. The document was signed on 13 October 2026 and released publicly on 22 October 2026.

The plan was formulated to support the development of the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle, build a high-standard Beautiful China pilot zone, and consolidate the ecological shield of the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Its overarching approach emphasises innovation-driven coordination, focused breakthroughs, complementary strengths and joint prevention and control.

Key targets set out in the plan:

• By 2027: water quality in the main streams of the Yangtze (Sichuan-Chongqing section) and the Yellow River (Sichuan section) will be stably maintained at Class II; air quality will continue to improve; total emissions of major pollutants and carbon intensity will keep declining; and more than 10 cross-boundary beautiful rivers and lakes will have been developed.
• By 2030: comprehensive improvement of ecological and environmental quality, stable ecosystem diversity, and the pilot zone basically completed.

Under the section on improving the defence of clean water, the plan calls for coordinated protection of the Yangtze and Jialing River (Sichuan-Chongqing section), joint treatment of cross-boundary water bodies such as the Fujiang and Qiongjiang, intensified total-phosphorus control in the Min (Tuo) River basin, and the establishment of an upstream-downstream integrated water environment governance system.

The prescribed actions include protection of drinking water sources, closing gaps in urban sewage collection networks, industrial park water pollution prevention and control, and inspection and remediation of river outfalls, with the aim of essentially eliminating urban and rural black-odour water bodies and establishing long-term prevention mechanisms. Joint scheduling of key water-control projects is also required to keep the ecological flow compliance rate of major rivers and lakes above 90%.

The plan further requires strengthened screening and risk control for hazardous waste, heavy metals and tailings ponds, and improvement of the "one river (park, road), one policy, one map" environmental emergency response system for cross-provincial incidents.

For the industrial water treatment sector, the explicit listing of industrial park water pollution control among the four core clean-water actions signals sustained demand for wastewater collection and treatment, centralised treatment facility upgrades and standardised outfall remediation across industrial clusters in the upper Yangtze.