Representatives of Ningbo receive the Dayu Cup awards at the award ceremony held in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on May 13. [Photo/zj.zjol.com] 

Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang province was recently awarded a Dayu Cup for its remarkable achievements in water control over the past year, local media reported on May 14. 

The Dayu Cup represents the highest honor in Zhejiang province for water control, which is named after Dayu, a legendary ancient Chinese hero who is most famous for controlling the flooding of the Yellow River. 

It is the second consecutive year that Ningbo has received the award. The city's Haishu and Zhenhai districts were also awarded a Dayu Cup, and Beilun and Fenghua districts a silver Dayu Cup, for being outstanding districts in water control.

The city has been committed to water control in recent years, reducing the direct discharge of sewage, preventing water pollution and improving river water quality.

A sunny day in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, with a clean river and lush green trees [Photo/zj.zjol.com] 

The rate of good quality water reached 80 percent last year, a year-on-year increase of 8.7 percent.

Ningbo has announced a plan to further improve its water quality this year, which includes regulating the city's five heavy-polluting industries, seeing 40 more towns getting rid of direct sewage discharge, and renovating or building more than 200 kilometers of urban sewage pipeline.