China has always been upholding the harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and protecting eco-environment at home and abroad. Therefore, the first national standard for river ecological safety assessment, GB/T 43474-2023, Technical guidelines for river ecological security assessment, was recently released, which will come into effect on April 1, 2024.

Led by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and CNIS, the standard was jointly drafted by more than 20 units, including research institutes, universities, enterprises and public institutions.

The national standard clarifies the concept of river ecological security and defines the principles, workflow, index system and evaluation methods of river ecological safety assessment. It sets up the index system, which consists of 4 special indexes including river ecological environmental pressure, river ecosystem health, river ecological services and river ecological risk, as well as 12 sub-indexes and 28 evaluation indexes. Also, the grading basis and result expression forms are used to characterize the degree of river ecological security.

The standard can help deal with the problems, such as the lack of uniformity between the index system and method of river ecological security assessment. It provides important scientific and technological support for promoting the protection and management of key basins of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River and other rivers, and maintaining the bottom line of water ecological safety in the construction of a beautiful China.