Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua called for all-out efforts to promote the "river chief" and "lake chief" systems across the board and strengthen management and protection of rivers and lakes.

Hu, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while addressing a conference on April 29 in Beijing.

Improving water environment should be a priority, he said, stressing the need to consolidate water pollution treatment in key fields and enhance coordinated prevention and control across basins.

Strict measures should be in place to protect water resources of rivers and lakes, and the national water-saving campaign should be launched, Hu said.

The vice-premier also urged accelerated work to restore water ecology and protect aquatic organisms in rivers and lakes, conserve and restore wetland ecology, and address water loss and soil erosion.