China is now facing mounting pressure as the nation's huge and growing population and its limited water resources threaten a severe water shortage which could endanger its sustained growth, according to the Economic Daily today.

The industrialization and urbanization process will bring China 's gross domestic product(GDP) to ten times the current level in about 50 years, which, at the same time, will bring about a substantial increase of water consumption, the paper said.

Meanwhile, China's population is expected to reach 1.6 billion by 2030, bringing down the per capita water resource by one-fifth to 1,700 cubic meters.

Official statistics show that about 27 million hectares of farm land are hit by drought each year, and the nation's farmland lacks 30 billion cubic meters of water for irrigation annually, with the water shortage in urban areas standing at six billion cubic meters.

In the face of this staggering shortage and the grave situation of pollution and waste of water, the government has started to attach the utmost importance to tackling the issue.

Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng has pledged to put saving and protecting water resources high on the agenda, and to streamline water conservancy to ensure the country's sustainable economic growth.

In a more detailed plan, the government will improve the management of water sources and apply economic leverage as well as advanced technologies to enhance the efficiency of water consumption, while promulgating new laws and regulations for the effective protection of water resources.