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Explora: Environment
and Resource The development of the river chief in Nantong and Huzhou

(W, interview, 8 October 2019). Overall, despite (or more for river quality. As a result, Huzhou’s river chief office was
accurately because) officials in Nantong following the developed not as a temporary, task-oriented organization,
guidance of Jiangsu Province, the performance of the river but as a professional organization to effectively operate
chief system has failed to reach the level found in more and coordinate the existing bureaucratic agents involved
successful municipalities and localities. in water management.
4.2. Huzhou and the role of mixing it up In addition, while Wuxi developed its system under a
crisis and Nantong transferred its system under pressure
Unlike Nantong, the Huzhou river chief system reflects from a superior level of government, Huzhou was able to
the constructive role that actors and the environment can transfer and construct policies autonomously. This allowed
play in the transfer process. As illustrated in Figure 3, them to set their own goals by looking around for ideas and
50
Huzhou officials decided to develop the river chief system structuring them to suit their unique situation. This was
to be seen as a leader in the field of water management. supported by a constructive relationship between Huzhou
This was itself partially motivated by the competition and Zhejiang Province (in terms of political performance),
for acknowledgement and resources encouraged by the which provided Huzhou with the resources and authority
Chinese governing system. 51
needed to construct its model of river management and
The importance of cross-governing competition protection.
was frequently mentioned in interviews with actors in Importantly, Huzhou was the first region in Zhejiang
Huzhou, who saw the development of the river chief as
demonstrating that they were engaged in pioneering policy Province to design and implement a river chief system. This
allowed Huzhou officials to frame their mission as making
innovation at higher-level governing authorities. If Huzhou their river chief “the model for Zhejiang Province.” This
had merely copied Wuxi (or any of the other models that
had emerged), core carte actors would not have been able led officials to include various design elements borrowed
to add “points” for high-level performance. from a range of sources, packaged together to address
indigenous water needs. As one interviewee noted:
Not only did Huzhou administrators use the river chief
to add “points” to their performance reviews, but they The provincial government also expects us to present
actively worked to make their river chief into a “brand” regional characteristics, form a demonstration effect
that could be a model for others. As reported: in the region and even in the whole country, and give
us a lot of support in terms of resources, including
In 2007, the river chief system in Wuxi formed a being included in the pilot innovation of river and
mature policy plan at the municipal level and was lake management system and mechanism, and
regarded as the birthplace of the river chief system. We demonstration river and lake construction points (D,
were somewhat unconvinced about this. We want to interview, 6 January 2020).
make Huzhou River chief system a brand, even beyond
the influence of Wuxi (Z, interview, 6 January 2020). In summary, the transfer of the river chief system in
Huzhou was based on policy learning and the assemblage
While Huzhou learned from Wuxi (D, interview, 6 of several models that were mixed with homegrown ideas.
January 2020), it is apparent that the two systems diverged in In this, policy actors were motivated by the hope of building
significant ways and that this divergence was driven, in part, a brand. As such, Huzhou best fits the policy transfer
by officials’ understanding of the differences in the underlying concept of an assembly. Because of this, when compared
logic for setting up the river chief in Wuxi and Huzhou. Recall with Nantong, the outcome of the river chief system in
that the Wuxi model emerged to deal with an emergency Huzhou is functioning at a higher level. As reported
(cyanobacteria crisis in the Taihu Lake). Huzhou’s system by The Ministry of Water Resources, the Taihu Basin
emerged out of the regular policy process and was seen “as Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Water Resources,
a way to improve the overall watershed management” in the and the provincial Water Resources Department, the river
municipality (Z, interview, 6 January 2020). chief in Huzhou has achieved good results in terms of
As a result, Huzhou designed its river chief to engage improved water quality and river health (the water quality
in overall river management, protective work, and the flowing into Taihu Lake remained above Class III for 13
development and utilization of overall water resources. consecutive years). In fact, in 2021, the Water Resources
This was reflected in the design of the office of the river Bureau of Huzhou won the title of “National Advanced
chief, which was established “to better assist the river chief Collective for Comprehensively Implementing the River
effectively perform his expanded role” (D, interview, 6 Chief System and Lake Chief System” issued by the
January 2020), not simply holding a person responsible Ministry of Water Resources. 49

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2025) 9 doi: 10.36922/EER025110018