Clusters of litter drift down the quiet river in Xintang, the filthy water as dark as squid ink despite Beijing's efforts to combat the national scourge of pollution.
Ironically, a sewage treatment facility designed to purify waste water from some 10 denim factories along the river stands nearby.
'Obviously, some factories don't follow the rules and discharge sewage illegally,' said Mr Chen, who runs a joint-venture denim plant in this textile town east of Guangzhou. 'Sewage charges have been raised several times and not every factory can afford that.'
In line with efforts to cut air and water pollution, the Xintang provincial government is restructuring highly polluting industrial activities by clustering factories into industrial parks and requiring sewage to be treated before discharge.
Starting from late last year, the government stopped renewing licences for denim plants, forcing them to move into the new industrial parks or move out of the city.
Mr Chen, whose factory specialises in finishing denim, chose to move to one of the parks. He and his partners invested 100 million yuan in the company that started making profits only three years ago.