The Chinese Ministry of Water Resources has pledged to spend 10 years to
ensure that 300 million rural residents, mainly those in the western region,
have clean water to drink.
"The state has increased investment in the project, which we hope will get at
least 30 million rural people out of the danger of unhealthy drinking water
every year," Minister Wang Shucheng said yesterday.
The central government will invest 32 billion yuan (about US$4 billion) in
the clean water supply project during the 2006-2010 period, the minister said.
Last year, the central government injected 6 billion yuan to provide safe
drinking water to nearly 29 million farmers.
By the end of 2004, there were still 323 million rural people who had to
drink unclean or unhealthy water, accounting for 34 percent of the country's
total rural population, statistics from the ministry showed.
Wang said while speeding up water supply projects, the Ministry of Water
Resources will also cooperate closely with the State Environmental Protection
Administration to prevent water pollution in rural areas.
Contaminated underground water, bitter salty water and water polluted by
excessive fluorin and arsenic are three major threats to the health of rural
Chinese.
