China to use strictest water protection measures

BEIJING - China will continue to carry out the strictest water resource management measures to cope with water shortages, a senior official said Tuesday.

The measures include accelerating the construction of a water-saving society, strengthening water resource protection and promoting the restoration of aquatic ecosystems, Chen Lei, minister of water resources, said at a national work conference.

China sees a 50-billion-cubic meter water shortage annually, with two-thirds of cities having trouble accessing water, according to official data.

China's water consumption has exceeded 600 billion cubic meters, accounting for 74 percent of the country's exploitable water resources.

In January, the central government issued a document asking the entire country to limit the scale of water exploitation, improve the efficiency of water usage and curb water pollution.

The country's water consumption should be controlled below 700 billion cubic meters by 2030, and its efficiency of water usage will reach advanced levels, according to the document.

China aims to reduce water consumption per 10,000 yuan ($1,597) industrial value-added output to less than 40 cubic meters by 2030, raise the effective water use coefficient of farmland irrigation water to above 0.6 and improve water quality, according to the document.

Chen said the nation will set water consumption quotas for local governments in a timely manner and continue to perfect the water price formation mechanism in order to promote water resource conservation and protection.