To jointly address water quality concerns in the Xin'an River basin, a pilot cross-provincial ecological compensation scheme has been introduced by east China's Anhui and Zhejiang. Under the scheme, the water quality is subjected to periodic assessments at the interprovincial section. If the water quality meets agreed standards, Zhejiang should compensate Anhui to defray the ecological protection cost. Otherwise, Anhui should compensate Zhejiang to pay for additional water treatment costs. The unremitting efforts have gradually paid off, with upstream water quality at the Xin'an River registering the best quality from 2012 to 2018, sending nearly 7 billion cubic meters of clean water to Qiandao Lake every year.
