Half of top 10 Chinese water systems polluted: report  

中國水安全問題調查：全國十大水系水質一半受污染

記者近期深入全國多個省市調研后了解到，伴隨人口增加、經濟發展和城市化進程加快，水資源短缺、水環境污染、水生態受損情況觸目驚心，水安全正在成為新時期經濟社會發展的基礎性、全局性和戰略性問題[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- With combined pressures from rising water demand and limited supplies, alongside severe water pollution, China is facing a mounting challenge in supplying safe, clean water to its 1.3 billion residents, as well as maintaining sustainable development, an investigative report of Xinhua News Agency said on Wednesday.

Around 50 percent of the country's top 10 water systems were found to be polluted in 2013 while 17 out of China's 31 major freshwater lakes are suffering "slight" or "moderate" pollution levels, the report stated.

Water quality offshore is no better, with 18.6 percent reaching class IV, the level next to 'worst.'

Of 4,778 monitoring sites for groundwater, almost 60 percent was found to be "bad" or "very bad", the report added.

China is also experiencing a water deficit reaching more than 50 billion cubic meters annually in terms of consumption, said Chen Ming, an official with the Ministry of Water Resources.

More than 300 of China's 667 cities are reportedly short of water, the report said.

The combined pressures of rising water demand over limited supplies and deteriorating water quality from widespread pollution, suggests that a severe water scarcity crisis is emerging, according to the World Bank.

President of Hubei university of Economics Lv Zhongmei, who has extensively researched environmental laws for more than 30 years, thinks water challenges are as severe as air pollution.

The report blamed some local governments and enterprises with the reckless pursuit of quick money by developing projects with high resource consumption and serious pollution.

Wang Jinnan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning under the environmental ministry, said steel, coal, chemical and paper industrials are influencing the Haihe river area where there is a severe water shortage.

On the same day, China published an action plan promising to protect the country's 365 lakes from pollution between 2013 and 2020.