China builds world’s biggest water infrastructure system, 5.4t yuan investment set for 14th Five-Year Plan

China has built the world's largest, most comprehensive water infrastructure system, benefiting the most people, and the total investment in water conservancy during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25) is expected to exceed 5.4 trillion yuan ($756.96 billion), head of China's Ministry of Water Resource Li Guoying said on Monday.

In 2022, China's investment in water conservancy construction surpassed 1 trillion yuan for the first time and set new records for three consecutive years, reaching 1.3529 trillion yuan in 2024. Total investment during the 14th Five-Year Plan period is expected to be 1.6 times that of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), said Li.

Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, 172 major water projects have been launched, accelerating the optimization of infrastructure layout, structure and integration. By the end of 2024, China had built 95,000 reservoirs, 200 large and medium water transfer projects, 6,924 irrigation districts, and 318,000 kilometers of dikes, completing a world-leading water infrastructure system in scale, function and population served.

The minister noted that China has been strengthening its flood and drought defense system, with 185.6 billion cubic meters of reservoir flood storage, dikes protecting 660 million people, and 109 billion cubic meters of national flood detention capacity. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, flood losses as a share of GDP have fallen from 0.28 percent to 0.18 percent.

In terms of water resources using efficiency, China has built a slew of water supply, diversion, and irrigation projects. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the national water network is expected to cover 80.3 percent of the country, irrigated farmland will reach 72.7 million hectares and rural tap water coverage will hit 96 percent, ensuring water security for national strategies, stable grain production, and residents' well-being.