Background The State Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China has issued the"Opinions on Strengthening Soil and Water Conservation Work in the New Era". All provinces and industries are working out implementation plans. As China's leading regions in reform and development, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta should stand at a higher position, have forward planning, and play a leading role.

Methods Here author presented his visions based on own long-term working experiences and accurate understanding on this topic.

Results 1) The goal of regional soil and water conservation should be changed from quantity to quality with comprehensive improvement of water and soil conservation function and ecological product in following ways. Focusing on river network, we should maintain and promote the good function of ecosystem, and innovate urban soil and water conservation. We should promote high-quality development of economy and high-level protection of ecological environment with a focus on strict control of man-made water and soil erosion. We should promote rural revitalization and common prosperity by focusing on improving quality and efficiency. We should focus on improving the ecological value of soil and water conservation and carbon sequestration to serve the construction of an ecological civilization in the new era. We should speed up the modernization of governance systems and capabilities with the focus on improving management capabilities and standards. 2) We should innovate systems and mechanisms, promote smart soil and water conservation, and build a modern social service and management system. It can be done by the following ways. We should create a more open and efficient world-class business environment, and efficiently serve society. We should innovate the self-restraint and trustworthy mechanism of construction institutions, reducing the illegal behavior and soil erosion from the source with the high-grade soil and water conservation credit level. We should innovate the smart application of big data, the Internet, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and the Internet of Things in the management of soil and water conservation, so as to enhance work efficiency in an all-round way. We should innovate the mechanism for social civilization and progress, increase the cognition level of soil and water conservation and ecological protection in an all-round way, and build and share with the whole society.

Conclusions The innovation and leading in soil and water conservation in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta can be conducted in the new era.