China is a country with a variety of waterways. At the source of the Yangtze River, the network resembles a miniature of China's river distribution.

In 2008, the green choice supply chain, a new management system, made its debut. Jointly developed by Ma's Institute and Green Earth Volunteers, Global Village, Green Camel Bell and other Environmental NGOs, the program collected government data on pollution and high-polluting enterprises and incorporated them into the map.

With this network, the public has online access to company supervision records and government sanction records on over-polluting companies. In the system, the third-party verification process developed by the Institute played an essential role –showing that the green choice assessment process needed Environmental NGO supervision.

For many businesses, it was through this type of public participation that they began to take the initiative, becoming actively involved in the renovation and upgrading of their environment protection equipment and finally lifting their pollution performance out of the database. Statistics show that under the pressure of public environmental information availability, over 280 companies have made contact with Environmental NGOs and the majority have offered to the public through the map database updates on their improvement strategies. Thirty-nine of these companies accepted third-party independent verification to prove the improvements in their adherence to environmental regulations.

"We must let businesses know that China's Environmental NGOs will continue to pay close attention to their environmental performance. The pressure must be there. I hope our database can help promote more extensive public participation." Ma's attitude and resolve shows that he will carry on with his campaign on behalf of the country's green rivers and blue skies.

(This story was selected from the book Stories of China's Environmental NGOs published by Foreign Languages Press.)