Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Significant progress has been made in investigating and rectifying sewage outlets into rivers.

On August 26, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held its regular press conference for August. Jiang Huohua, director of the Water Ecological Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated that the Ministry has been making progress in investigating and rectifying sewage outlets, with a completion rate of over 90%. This has achieved significant results: first, establishing rules to guide the rectification process. The ministry has issued regulations for the supervision and management of sewage outlets into rivers, and developed 14 technical standards for tracing, rectification, and other measures, clearly specifying the requirements for rectification. Second, focusing on actual results to show the public changes. Financial support and coordination from the central government amounting to over 31 billion yuan has been allocated to support the construction of more than 8,000 standardized sewage outlets into rivers, compiling case studies to provide practical guidance. Demonstrations and guidance are provided at the local level to encourage targeted efforts. Third, clarifying responsibilities to encourage joint efforts in pollution control. Highlighting key issues in central ecological and environmental inspections and in publicizing warning films to expose problems, to encourage all parties to take responsibility and completely address the issues. Next steps will focus on deepening work in three areas: "comprehensive governance" to clean up rivers and lakes of all sizes, "smart monitoring" to effectively utilize monitoring data, and "comprehensive treatment" to establish long-term effective mechanisms.