The reporter learned from the exchange meeting that as of the 12th, 28 of the first batch of pilot cities have passed acceptance, and the remaining pilot cities will complete acceptance one after another.

　　Since the launch of the national water ecological civilization city construction pilot in 2013, each pilot city has formed a working mechanism of government leadership, water conservancy department taking the lead, division of labor and cooperation, and social participation. At the same time, diversified means have been used to increase construction funding, vigorously integrate fiscal funds, and actively use market mechanisms to absorb social capital, with cumulative investment exceeding 750 billion yuan, of which social capital accounts for nearly one-third.

　　At the same time, the pilot cities have taken ensuring and improving people's livelihood as the primary task of the pilot work, focusing on solving the most prominent water problems. Through the implementation of full-chain governance of "source control, process interception, and end regulation", the water quality compliance rate of water function areas in pilot cities increased from 64.2% to 82.1%, the compliance rate of domestic sewage treatment increased from 81.5% to 93.5%, the compliance rate of industrial wastewater discharge increased from 94.1% to 99.0%, and 37 cities completed the treatment of black and odorous water bodies within their municipal areas. By adjusting the urban economic structure and industrial layout, and restoring the connectivity of natural water systems such as rivers, lakes, depressions, and wetlands, the urban water ecological pattern has been optimized. According to incomplete statistics, the first batch of pilot cities added or restored water areas or wetlands totaling 1,436.7 square kilometers, greatly improving the urban water ecology.

　　Vice Minister of Water Resources Zhou Xuewen said that in the pilot work, various localities have explored and formed many construction models that suit actual conditions and have distinctive features based on their own realities and characteristics. These models can be learned from and referenced by the whole country in promoting water ecological civilization construction. In the future, the Ministry of Water Resources will, on the basis of these experiences, further improve the institutional systems for the river chief system and lake chief system, ecological red line delineation and ecological space control, and water ecological compensation, and guide various localities to promote the creation of water ecological civilization cities at a higher level and with greater efforts, targeting different water resource endowments, water ecological characteristics, water cultural heritage, and water landscape features.

　　The reporter learned from the Department of Water Resources Management of the Ministry of Water Resources that 105 cities (counties, districts) across the country were designated as national water ecological civilization city construction pilots in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The construction tasks of the second batch of 59 pilot cities are underway and are expected to be fully completed in 2018.