Almost all villages on the mainland will have adequate drinking water within 20 years, under a target announced yesterday.
The Ministry of Water Resources said only 40 per cent of the nation's 800 million rural residents were self-sufficient in drinking water, with more than 20 million facing shortages, the People's Daily reported.
The plan, which relies mostly on the building of wells, envisages 60 per cent of villages being serviced with adequate supplies by 2010. The most serious problems are in the northwestern provinces of Gansu and Ningxia, and the southwestern provinces of Guangxi and Guizhou.
The report did not elaborate on how the objectives would be achieved, but experts say the goals will require the digging of new groundwater wells and building of surface wells. Rural regions with low groundwater supplies and rainfall will receive piped water.
The news comes as Beijing is boosting its efforts in rural poverty alleviation, with provision of drinking water seen as the first step in development. 'Without clean water, you cannot eliminate poverty. This is a very fundamental issue,' said Juergen Voegele, rural sector co-ordinator of the World Bank in Beijing.
The ministry will also seek to have irrigation account for half of the country's water supplies by 2010, up from 47 per cent, and provide 37 million rural residents with electricity by increasing hydro-power production.