After the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, improvement actions of the environmental radiation surveillance were carried out by Chinese government to deal with the possible nuclear accident in response to the rapid development of nuclear power in China. The local government radiation surveillance system, including the on-line radiation monitoring network and automatic sampling system, the off-site monitoring center laboratory, the radioactive effluent on-line monitoring system and the sampling inspection laboratory were regulated to establish for all operation and constructing nuclear power plant. This paper describes the general design of the system by taking Ningde nuclear power plant (NPP) for example. The main designs, including radiation monitoring and sampling equipment, data collection and the communication technology, and the surveillance management, are generally based on the experiences or lessons from Fukushima accident. The system is expected to act as a pivotal role to evaluate the environmental radioactivity from the operation of NPP, and to provide effective decision support in the event of possible nuclear accident.