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Two-Thirds of China's Cities Face Water Shortage
More than 400 of China's 668 cities are facing a water shortage, and of the 400, more than 100 are seriously threatened by the water shortage.
In addition, nearly half of China's rivers and over 90 percent of its urban water resources have been polluted to some extent, said Zhou Wenzhi, vice-minister of Water Resources, at an international seminar on the guarantee of water resources for sustainable development in the 21st century, which closed Wednesday.
Chinese cities have a total annual water shortage of six billion cubic meters, the vice-minister said, adding that China's per capita water resource is only less than one fourth of the world's average.
Water resources are no longer a cheap resource that was once believed to be "inexhaustible," said Zhou, who called for a harmonious relationship between human beings and nature.
He stressed that the concept of "water saving" should be widely introduced and management and protection of precious water resources must be given greater importance.
China should also strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the rest of the world, and learn from those countries which have been successful in saving water resources, he noted.
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