China builds world's 'largest, most comprehensive' water infrastructure system

ANKARA

China on Monday announced that it has built the world's "largest, most comprehensive" water infrastructure system, with total investment in water conservancy projects during the 2021-25 period expected to exceed 5.4 trillion yuan ($757 billion), state media reported.

Water Resources Minister Li Guoying said the total investment during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) is expected to be 1.6 times higher than that of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), according to the Global Times, an English-language daily.

Since the launch of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China has initiated 172 major water projects nationwide, accelerating improvements in the layout, structure, and integration of its water infrastructure.

By the end of 2024, China constructed 95,000 reservoirs, 200 large and medium-sized water transfer projects, 6,924 irrigation districts, and 318,000 kilometers (197,596 miles) of dikes — creating what officials describe as a world-leading system in terms of scale, functionality, and population coverage.

Li also stated that China has been advancing its flood and drought defense system.

According to the minister, China now has 185.6 billion cubic meters of reservoir flood storage capacity, dikes protecting 660 million people, and 109 billion cubic meters of national flood detention capacity.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, flood losses as a share of GDP have dropped from 0.28% to 0.18%, Li said.

By the end of the plan period in 2025, the national water network is expected to cover 80.3% of the country. Irrigated farmland is projected to reach 72.7 million hectares (180 million acres), while rural tap water access will expand to 96% of the population.

* Writing by Aamir Latif.