GUIYANG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- International experts attending the Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2025 have praised China's progress in ecological protection and environmental governance.

The forum dedicated to ecological civilization opened on Saturday in Guiyang, the capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, bringing together approximately 800 participants from around the world. It features 20 sub-forums covering key topics such as sustainable development, climate change, biodiversity conservation and environmental governance.

In an interview with Xinhua, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim expressed his admiration for China's "river chief" system, particularly in the eastern provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Under this system, individuals are appointed to oversee specific river sections, ensuring accountability and efficient responses to environmental violations.

"That's a system which can be implemented everywhere," Solheim said. "Many cities in the developing world could look to China for inspiration."

James Thornton, founder of non-profit environmental law organization ClientEarth and a professor at the University of Oxford, also commended China's strides in ecological governance.

Thornton first visited China in 2014 on invitation to offer advice on the country's environmental protection legislation. He has since closely followed the country's legal progress in this area. When he returned the following year, he was impressed to learn that China had appointed many environmental judges. "That was unique anywhere in the world. At the time, there were really only a few environmental judges outside China," he said.

This year, Thornton pointed to progress in the large-scale ecological restoration of the Yangtze River Basin. Once heavily polluted by rapid industrialization and urbanization, the basin is now showing promising signs of recovery. "It only took a few years, and it's already starting to work really well," he said.

Gordon Watson, chief executive of Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park in Scotland, said that he has seen China's commitment to the "30 by 30" global goal, which aims to effectively conserve and manage at least 30 percent of the world's terrestrial, inland water, marine and coastal areas by 2030.

Over the past two years, the Scottish park has been partnering with the Giant Panda National Park in southwest China's Sichuan Province to exchange knowledge on balancing conservation and human activity.

"I have seen there is a lot of expertise in China's habitat and species management, and the standards are very high," he said.

Watson said he was especially impressed by the modern technology deployed in China's national parks, such as infrared sensing technology and satellite coverage to monitor the movement of species like pandas and snow leopards. "China is leading in this area," he noted.

"China plays a vital role as an emerging global leader in eco-civilization," Hassina Mouri, president of the International Union of Geological Sciences, said at a sub-forum of the event.

"China shows a strong commitment to investing in research and promoting international collaboration in eco-civilization, and the significant progress achieved so far reflects the country's steadfast dedication and passion for the field," she added.