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China’s campaign of improving rural drinking
water security
Wang Jianhua, Director and Professor of Engineering, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower
Research (IWHR); Liu Changshun, Professor of Engineering, IWHR; Li Xiaoqin, Engineer, IWHR
T
he supply of sufficient, clean and affordable drink-
ing water to the rural population has formed a large
part of China’s efforts to improve livelihoods, and
provides the impetus for the country to realise the UN
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the dawn of
the 21st century, over 60% of China’s rural residents had
no access to water supply facilities, and over 320 million
people, accounting for one third of the rural population,
were unable to enjoy a secure supply of drinking water.
China’s efforts to rectify this situation included the invest-
ment of over 280bn RMB during the eleventh and twelfth
Five-Year Plans of rural drinking water security (2005–
2015). In 2016, the Chinese government staged a campaign
for further improvements, with an eye on ensuring univer-
sal and fair access to safe drinking water for every rural
resident, so that they could enjoy the same entitlements to
drinking water as their urban counterparts.
China’s campaign to improve rural drinking water security
The master plan
Consistent with a portfolio of policies to build a better coun-
tryside – poverty alleviation, new urbanisation development,
and rural livability improvement – the campaign to improve
rural drinking water security has been launched in a bid to
increase the centralised water supply and availability of tap
water, and to enhance water supply security and water quality
compliance, following the principle of urban-rural coordina-
tion. Specific objectives include: as of 2020, the centralised
water supply to reach at least 85%, and tap water 80%; small-
scale water supply facilities to be guaranteed at least 90% of
the time, and other facilities to maintain a water supply no
less than 95% of the time; tap water pipelines from cities to
reach one third of rural administrative villages; the opera-
tion, management and maintenance of rural drinking water
supply to be enhanced to gradually achieve sustainability.
Universal and fair access to safe and affordable drinking
water is envisaged for 2030. To this end, the following key
measures have been put in place:
Key measure 1: Reinforcing existing projects
Agencies responsible for the management and supervision
of rural drinking water supply projects have been put in
place to strengthen the service and guidance for such work.
The property rights of projects as well as their management
bodies and respective responsibilities have been clarified
to form a complete management and operation system. To
cover the costs of project operation and management, the
water pricing mechanism has been improved in terms of
water taxation and fiscal subsidies. Favourable policies have
been formulated to encourage private investment. A nation-
wide information management system or rural drinking
water supply has been built to enhance the monitoring and
management of the projects.
Key measure 2: Construction and innovation
Previously, rural water supply projects had low standards, were
run on a small scale and were poorly guaranteed. The projects
have now been properly identified and distributed, coordi-
nating them with measures such as project retrofit, upgrade
and connection with the urban pipe network, to improve the
standard, size and viability of the rural water supply. Realising
a basic water supply in poor regions has been prioritised.
Key measure 3: Enhancing water resource protection and water
quality insurance
It is now agreed that project construction, source water
protection and water quality monitoring must proceed simulta-
neously. Improved source water protection, better purification
facilities and disinfection equipment are being installed to
improve water quality compliance. Water quality watchdogs
need to be established with adequate staffing and funding so
that both inspection and monitoring can be ensured.
Key measure 4: Ensuring planning implementation
The roles of central and local governments have been aligned,
with local governments mainly responsible for implementa-
tion and taking overall responsibility for rural drinking water
security in its jurisdictions; and central government providing
appropriate subsidies for the poor regions as well as supervis-
ing, reviewing and providing guidance to local governments.
Recent achievements
In 2016, focusing on the registered poor population, 24bn
RMB of investment (3bn RMB subsidised by central govern-
ment and 21bn funded by local governments) was channelled
into 59,000 projects, benefiting a total population of 39m,
among which registered the poor population reached 4.26m.
93% of counties in China have established their own regula-