Hong Kong's Mirs Bay Hits 100% Water Quality Success

Hong Kong's Mirs Bay just became the city's first marine area to receive China's "Outstanding Example of Beautiful Bays" award, and the secret ingredient isn't just technology—it's cooperation.

The bay now boasts a perfect 100% water quality compliance rate, meeting China's strictest national seawater standards. That's no small feat for a busy coastal area shared between Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Shenzhen.

Environmental Protection Department teams patrol the waters with drones that monitor sewage discharge in real time. Nine water quality monitoring stations track conditions continuously, while three new scavenging vessels keep the surface clean. It's a high-tech approach that's delivering measurably clean results.

But the real breakthrough is happening across borders. Hong Kong, Guangdong, and Shenzhen created a joint notification system that alerts all three regions when marine debris appears. When one area spots a problem, everyone gets the warning and coordinates cleanup efforts together.

The clean water is bringing back wildlife. Mirs Bay now serves as critical habitat for nationally protected species, and most of the bay falls within statutory protected areas. These include the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark and two Marine Parks that shelter rare marine life.

Samuel Chui Ho-kwong, Director of Environmental Protection, called the recognition a first for Hong Kong and credited years of collaborative environmental work across departments and regions.

The Ripple Effect: This success is already spreading. Hong Kong plans to apply for the same "Beautiful Bays" recognition for Sai Kung Port Shelter within the year, using lessons learned from Mirs Bay. The cross-border cooperation model proves that shared waterways don't have to mean shared pollution problems—they can mean shared solutions instead.

When neighboring regions treat marine protection as a team effort rather than competing priorities, everyone wins. The fish, the wildlife, the communities that depend on clean water, and the future generations who'll inherit these shores all benefit from cooperation that puts the environment first.

Hong Kong's achievement shows that combining smart technology with even smarter collaboration can restore marine environments we thought were too compromised to save.