For managing basin water pollution, it is important to explore the role of the river chief system in dealing with the free-rider problem due to transboundary pollution. Based on the water pollution data of the state-controlled monitoring points and the evolution data of the river chief system from 2004-2019, this study comprehensively evaluated the pollution management effects of upstream governments in implementing the river chief system by constructing upstream and downstream water quality models. The results showed that: ① The implementation of this system by upstream governments could effectively improve downstream water quality; however, the incentive effect was only from the upstream areas within the province. ② In provinces where provincial river chiefs were appointed, the positive effect of the system was more pronounced in upstream areas than that in downstream areas, which might be due to the benign environmental management interactions brought about by provincial river chiefs. ③ In contrast, the implementation of the river chief system in upstream provinces exacerbated water pollution in downstream areas. In summary, although the system could improve local environmental governance by strengthening the performance assessment of local officials, it did not reverse the nature of free-rider problems due to transboundary pollution. Therefore, the river chief system, which implements management responsibilities based on administrative boundaries, was not able to fundamentally achieve an overall improvement in water environmental quality. Accordingly, the study recommends that when we adhere to environmental decentralization, water quality downstream, especially in cross-provincial downstream areas, should be included in the performance assessment. Also, the chief river system should be established at the overall level of the basin to strengthen inter-provincial collaboration within the basin. Only in this way can we solve the free-rider problems in pollution management, improve the efficiency of environmental management, protect basin ecology, and achieve high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]