Transboundary water pollution management Lessons learned from river basin management in China, Europe and the Netherlands

Transboundary water pollution management is a challenge for China at this moment in time. By introducing relevant legal arrangements, we mainly discuss the competent authorities, the legal instruments and dispute settlement procedures concerning this issue in China. The experiences from international, EU and Dutch water law gives us a comparative perspective. As a conclusion, we agree that China has set up a basic legal system to solve the problem, but a greater effort can still be made, for instance including more public opinion, clearly defining the competent authorities, and enacting more legislation. At the same time, the Chinese experience, such as a new model for a monitoring system and a target responsibility system, also provides the rest of the world with a new approach.