Chinese cities are short of a total volume of 6 billion cubic meters of water, according to construction vice-minister Qiu Baoxing, March 22, who said the nation's tight water supply had been intensified by water resources pollution, over-extraction of underground water and low-efficient water use.

Speaking at a meeting summing up a water conditions survey by college students, Qiu said China has more than 100 cities above-county level from 11 provinces and municipalities that are suffering from short water supply, and cases are serious in 56 percent of them. Many urban dwellers are facing severe water shortage for daily use, and the water security of cities has been greatly threatened.

China's per capita water resources is only one fourth that of world average, said Qiu, and the tight water supply has been intensified by ill-balanced water distribution and serious pollution. Some local officials, Qiu criticized, whose water-saving awareness is weak, developed blindly water-consuming and highly polluting projects. Some water-lacking cities were eager to build big lawns and other water-consuming attraction sites. Some of them even took low-price water as a favorable term to attract investors.

By People's Daily Online