The comprehensive renovation of Suzhou River is a "People wish" project, to which each term of Shanghai Party Committee and Municipal Government leaders have paid great efforts. In August 1988, at the foundation ceremony of Term-1 Project of Sewage Confluence Renovation, Secretary of Shanghai Party Committee (then) Jiang Zemin announced the opening of foundation ceremony and contributed his epigraph: "Make up our mind to renovate the Suzhou River". When Comrade Zhu Rongji and Wu Bangguo worked in Shanghai, they often came to inspect the construction site of Term-1 Project of Sewage Confluence Renovation. In the recent years, Shanghai Party Committee and Municipal Government focused on the strategy of building international metropolitan, improving city's integrated competitive edge, and realize the sustainable development, in order to promote the renovation project of Suzhou River. Secretary of Shanghai Party Committee Huangju promised to be the "Environment secretary", and made important instruction to the renovation of Suzhou River: "The comprehensive renovation of Suzhou River shall be concentrated around water quality improvement, and shall be completely planed, long-term and short-term combined, key point focused and step-by-step implemented. The governments of all levels shall put all the measures into effect year by year, and term by term". In 1996, the Municipal Government established the leading team of Suzhou River Renovation that was led by Mayor Xu Kuangdi, which brought the renovation of Suzhou River onto the positive development track of cycling management.
The renovation of Suzhou River shall demonstrate the feature of China, the feature of Shanghai, and the feature of this time. According to the request of "Eliminate dark contamination and bad smell in water areas, and destroy dirt and disorder in land areas" from Shanghai Party Committee and Municipal Government, the implementation of Term-1 project were launched in 1999, including 10 sub-projects such as the anabranch sewage holding-up project of Suzhou River and the silt dredge-up and processing project. Currently, all the projects have entered the key construction stage, and the riverside environment improvement and vegetative construction have been achieved with stage fruit. It's the top 1 importance to make water clear. By building facilities, activating water body and improving water quality, the dark and stink have been basically eliminated during the course of comprehensive diversion project. Last Nov. watched the 1st yacht companionship in the Suzhou River since the opening of Shanghai. The yellow and white spoondrift flies above the cyan water, delivering a clear and beautiful image of this mother river.
As the expert said, it's crucial to active the river to flow that the renovation resolution of Suzhou River can achieve substantial fruit. With great ambition, Shanghai Party Committee and Municipal Government concluded the experiences and lessons of "water renovation" of other cities in the world on the basis of massive scientific evidences, and worked out a whole set of water renovation resolution with both the temporary and the permanent effect based on Shanghai's reality. The Term-1 Project of Suzhou River Comprehensive Renovation focused closely on water renovation. For water renovation, the sewage holding-up and handling is the permanent solution, and such projects were included in the 1st group in Term-1 project. In the Project of Sewage Holding-up in 6 Anabranches of Suzhou River that was invested with 1.5 billion RMB, total 61km of pipelines were laid and 231 sinking shafts were constructed. After the project accomplishment, the 300K-ton sewage, which are generated within 200ksquare meters around these 6 anabranches, will be collected from the pre-buried underground pipelines to the Shi Dongmen Sewage Plant for emission, and will be no longer harmful to the mother river any more. The Shi Dongmen Sewage Plant is the biggest sewage plant in Shanghai under construction, the 1st term of which plans to process 400,000 tons of sewage a day in the Class-2 standard of emission in order to prevent the Yangtze River from indirect pollution. The whole project will be completed in 2002.
It's the 1st step and the most important step for Suzhou River renovation to eliminate the dark contamination and bad smell in the trunk stream; and water diversion is the main assistant measure to achieve it.
The final target of Comprehensive Renovation of Suzhou River is to recover the sightseeing function as well as the eco-functions. It's planed to take 3 strides for renovation in a decade: eliminate the dark contamination and bad smell in the trunk stream of Suzhou River in 2000; accomplish the riverside avenue in the east part of Changshou Road Bridge with the further improvement of water quality of Suzhou River in 2002; realize the synchronous improvement of water quality of Suzhou River and Huangpu River, as well as the trunk stream and anabranches of Suzhou River, and recover the eco-functions of water system that shall be evidenced with the fish in the river. In Term-1 project, the relocation of environment and sanitation harbor, the clean maintenance of water area, the gas exposure and oxygen recovery of riverways, and the dredge-up of bottom silt were all executed to recover the sightseeing function and eco-functions of the river. Along the Suzhou River, the 5-km vegetative section model has been built. And part of Suzhou River will be opened for sailing before 2010.
From the garbage boat to the yacht, the change of Suzhou River is the epitome of evolutions of Shanghai. During the course of the 10th "5-year Plan", Shanghai will convert itself from the industry and commercial city to the economic center. The Suzhou River, carrying a century of industry development, will brace the citizens in the new century. In the nearing future, it will become the new sightseeing landmark of the economic center with fish swimming and trees sheltering.