President Xi Jinping has expressed the importance of giving higher priority to ecological and environmental protection during his visit to the Bai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, Southwest China. He said local officials should improve the quality of the water in Erhai Lake, and he had a photo taken with the local officials to "keep a record".

Erhai, the mother lake of Dali, is the source of 800,000 people's drinking water. Pollution has become serious in recent years. Blue algae pollution has broken out twice in the lake since the 1990s.

Xi's call for the lake to be cleaned and protected, as well as having his photo taken with local officials to keep a record, shows that he is paying great attention to the health of the environment. The group picture can be regarded as an appointment between Xi and local officials, and also a reminder that "environmental protection should be a long-lasting task". It can be anticipated that the water quality in Erhai Lake will steadily improve.

It should also be a reminder to all officials that they should not only be concerned with the short term. Instead, they should always keep in mind their mission is to serve people's well-being.