People.cn:

Water-saving is highly relevant to the production and life of people. The report to the 19th CPC National Congress has also made it clear that we should implement a national water-saving initiative. The National Development and Reform Commission and the MWR have jointly issued the National Water Saving Action Plan, transforming the water-saving action into a national initiative. Therefore, I would like to ask, what achievements have been made since the launch of the national water-saving initiative? What are the next steps? Thank you,

Chen Mingzhong:

The implementation of a national water-saving initiative is an important task deployed at the 19th CPC National Congress. Since the National Water Saving Action Plan was introduced in April 2019, a cross-department coordination mechanism for the national water-saving work led by the MWR and 20 other departments has been put in place to push for achievement of various targets and tasks set in the action plan. At present, various tasks have been well accomplished, and the six key actions are being implemented in a steady manner. All of these key actions, including the dual control of total water use and water intensity, the action to save water and improve efficiency in agriculture, the action to save water and reduce emissions in industry, the action to save water and reduce losses in urban areas, the action to develop water sources and promote water conservation in key areas, and the action to give a better play to the role of scientific and technological innovation, have been actively carried out. At the same time, we have further deepened reform on water-saving systems and mechanisms, continuously improved policies, regulations and technical standards, and constantly enhanced organizational guarantees and basic capabilities. As of now, all 31 provincial-level regions have established departmental coordination mechanisms or water-saving joint conference systems, issued provincial water-saving action plans, and carried out water-saving actions in a solid and orderly manner. Through joint efforts over the years, we have made remarkable progress in water-saving. These achievements have been mainly manifested in the following aspects:

China's water use efficiency has dramatically improved, especially regarding public awareness of water conservation. In recent years, we have continued our efforts in water-saving transformation in large- and medium-sized irrigation areas, with newly-built high-efficiency water-saving irrigation areas growing by over 120 million mu nationwide from the beginning of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020). We have stepped up efforts to promote water-saving transformation in the industrial sector and encouraged more enterprises to put water conservation high on the agenda. As such, the reuse rate in industrial enterprises above the designated size reached 92%. Meanwhile, planned water use management was practiced by 99% of enterprises above the designated size in key water-intensive industries experiencing overexploitation of water resources. Building water-efficient cities has become a priority. Cities of prefectural level and above that lack water have all been established as water-saving cities, and 119,000 enterprises in the service sector have become water-saving enterprises. We have made unconventional water resources part of the water allocation system and established pilot programs for using recycled water in certain areas. China's total unconventional water use rose to 13.83 billion cubic meters in 2021 from 10.77 billion cubic meters in 2019. We have launched a campaign to promote water-saving efforts in counties across the country, with 1,094 counties (districts) becoming water-saving counties. In 2021, China's total water use was kept below 610 billion cubic meters. Its water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP was 51.8 cubic meters, while the water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial added value was 28.2 cubic meters, dropping by 45% and 55% from the 2012 level, respectively. China's farmland irrigation efficiency index rose to 0.568 in 2021 from 0.516 in 2012.

Going forward, the MWR will take full advantage of the coordination mechanism on water conservation to encourage synchronized efforts between departments and local governments. We will encourage national water conservation action and implement the plan to build a water-saving society in the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). We will continue to advance the actions mentioned earlier in terms of six areas to ensure that sustainable water use will support China's high-quality economic and social development. Thank you.