China will Pour $612 Billion into Water Projects Over 10 years
Work will seek to address water supply and sustainability issues.
China -- which has a water shortage -- plans to spend $612 billion on water projects during the next 10 years, focused on supply, flood prevention and sustainable management. And climate change is threatening China's water supply, a government official said.
"China faces an imbalance between the supply and demand of water to support its rapid social and economic development, while protecting the natural environment and ecosystems," Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei told a roundtable meeting on climate change in China, the country's English newspaper, China Daily, reports.
Global climate change could further exacerbate existing problems over water security, water supply and farming irrigation, Chen said.
While China has the world's largest population, figures from China's Ministry of Water Resources indicate the country's per capita water resources are only 28 percent of the global average.
Chen said China has a water shortage of 40 billion cubic meters a year, with two-thirds of cities experiencing increased scarcity of water.
