Water price in China's capital Beijing will certainly be raised
upon the completion of a gigantic and costly water diversion
project transferring water from the country's rainy South to the
dry North by around 2010, Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng
has said.
"The water price will certainly be hiked to cover project
expenses and operational cost, but it is up to the tap water
company to decide the final price," said Wang on the sidelines of
the ongoing annual full session of the Chinese parliament, the 10th
National People's Congress.
The massive South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which began
construction in December 2002 and is expected to cost 500 billion
yuan (US$62 billion), will divert 9.5 billion cubic meters of water
from the Yangtze River, the country's longest, to North China on an
annual basis once it is completed.
Beijing, one of the destinations on the central route -- one of
the three designed routes -- of the project, will count on the
diverted water to ease the expected water supply strain during the
2008 summer Olympic Games, said Wang.
The minister said another option for guarantee water supply of
the 2008 Games is to divert water from the Yellow River in North
China through a project traversing the northern province of
Shanxi.
Beijing, which currently charges local citizens 3.7 yuan (46
cents) for every cubic meter of water they consume, leads the
country in terms of the water price.
According to the ministries of construction and water resources,
water prices in the Chinese cities are below the cost, leaving much
room for further price hikes.
The Ministry of Construction in recent years launched pilot
projects of "differentiated water prices" in some Chinese cities
including Beijing, which means the city government sets a basic
quota on water consumption for each household and charges much more
than average on those exceeding the quota.
(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2006)