Abstract: Cross-border basin ecological compensation is a system innovation which can solve the contradiction of right to exist and right to development between the upstream and downstream,and find an effective way to realize the ecological protection and regional economic integration as well.So far,the first basin ecological compensation pilot project,the Xin'an River Basin ecological compensation project has been in the third stage,it still faces the difficulty of how to establish the long-term mechanism.This paper analyzed the operating mechanism and existing problems of ecological compensation by studying the theoretical framework,practical process and benefit of ecological compensation.It was shown that the basin ecological compensation mechanism based on the sharing and co-construction theory was scientific and feasible.However,the problems of water quality,shortage of funds and low public participation were also exposed at present.Therefore,it is necessary to establish a third-party platform at the national level,which can study and coordinate the interests of various parties,explore the diversified compensation mechanism,and promote the transformation of Xin'an River pilot project to the propagable Xin'an River model.