Water saving is on top of the agenda of the Chinese government as a
wide range of activities are going on around the globe to mark the
World Day for Water Friday.
China has sustained 22 percent of the world's population with only
6 percent of the world's renewable water resources, Suo Lisheng,
vice minister of water resources, said Friday.
Water shortage still hinders China's social and economic growth,
though the country's annual water supply capacity has increased
from 100 billion cubic meters in 1949 to 570 billion cubic meters
in 2001, Suo said.
Statistics show China is among the world's 13 thirstiest countries.
Its annual average per capita water supply, which now stands at 430
cubic meters, is only a quarter of the world's average. About 400
out of its 699 cities are short of water.
As
the global water shortage is daily aggravating, China has stepped
up efforts to raise public awareness of the issue.
Days before the World Day for Water, many cities put up posters
reading "water for development" and "water is vital to life" along
major streets.
Shenyang, a traditional industrial base in northeast China,
released a memorandum Friday to inform the citizens of its dilemma
in water supply.
According to the memo, Shenyang's per capita water supply is only
one fifth of the national average and one seventeenth of the world
average.
Though more water is needed to sustain Shenyang's 7.2 million
population and agricultural and industrial production, the
underground water level in the city has kept dropping at an average
62 centimeters during the dry season, said local hydrological
experts.
The municipal government of Shenyang is planning to use US$37
million of World Bank loans
in the coming five years to introduce water-saving irrigation
devices.
Like many other Chinese cities, Shenyang is also calling for less
waste and more rational exploitation of water resources among its
citizens.
With the help of the Asian
Development Bank, the Chinese government decided in 1998 to
adjust water prices in line with internationally accepted
standards.
Many cities have raised water prices since then, as higher prices
are widely believed to be crucial for avoiding water squandering
and will therefore help ensure a secure water supply in China.
The national capital Beijing raised prices for water and sewage
treatment in February this year, "an effective means to curb waste
and relieve water shortage", officials say.
While the northern and western areas are fighting drought, less
thirsty southern cities have moved to improve water
environment.
Over 1,000 people gathered Friday by Wenjing River, a Yangtze
tributary in southwest China's
Sichuan Province, to free tens of thousands of fishes caught by
poachers.
"Actually, fish is my favorite dish," said a 14-year-old
schoolgirl, "But it's now prime time for their reproduction and
fishes can improve water quality of the river."
The eastern municipality Shanghai plans to spend an unprecedented
14 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) to improve water quality during
the coming five years, including better treatment of its annual 2.2
billion cubic meters of sewage and further exploitation of
freshwater from the Yangtze River, said government sources.
By
cleaning up its rivers, Shanghai will strive to be an "oriental
Venice," Mayor Chen Liangyu told a local conference Friday marking
the tenth World Day for Water.
(Xinhua News
Agency March 22, 2002)