Beijing: China's total investment in water conservancy facility construction is expected to exceed 5.4 trillion yuan (about 759.6 billion U.S. dollars) during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), marking a 1.6-fold increase from the previous five-year period, according to Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying.
According to Namibia Press Agency, China invested a record high of over 1.35 trillion yuan in the construction of water conservancy facilities in 2024. This follows the sector's achievement of surpassing the one trillion yuan mark in 2022, setting record-breaking investment levels for three consecutive years.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China has initiated 172 major water conservancy projects, focusing on optimizing infrastructure in terms of layout, structure, function, and system integration, Li added.
By the end of 2024, the country completed 95,000 reservoirs, 200 large and medium-sized water diversion projects, 6,924 large and medium-sized irrigation districts, and 318,000 kilometers of dikes. This development forms the world's largest and most comprehensive water conservancy infrastructure system, benefiting the largest population.
Additionally, China has strengthened its flood and drought disaster prevention system, successfully managing 3,981 river floods that exceeded warning levels. Effective responses to severe droughts in river basins, such as the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, ensured water supply safety for residents and met irrigation demands for crops.
During the 2021-2025 period, economic losses from flood and waterlogging disasters as a percentage of the GDP decreased to 0.18 percent from 0.28 percent during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020).
China's water resources sector adhered to the principle of prioritizing water conservation, as stated by Vice Minister of Water Resources Chen Min. With an average annual economic growth rate of 5.5 percent, the country's total water consumption remained stable with zero growth.
Water use efficiency improved significantly. In 2024, water consumption per 10,000 yuan of GDP and per 10,000 yuan of industrial added value decreased by 17.7 percent and 23.6 percent, respectively, compared with 2020 levels. By the end of 2024, the national area under water-saving irrigation reached 638 million mu (about 42.53 million hectares), a 12.5 percent increase from the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Moreover, water consumption per mu of irrigated farmland decreased by 4 percent.