China has made quick and remarkable improvements in extending water supply and sanitation nationwide, an official with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said here Tuesday.

"China has made strong improvements in extending the availability of water across the country, despite a large imbalance in natural distribution between north and south," said Alessandra Tisot, senior deputy resident representative of UNDP in China.

"The same goes for improved sanitation, which has been extended across rural areas at an impressive rate," Tisot said.

"Extending rural access has been an important priority of the government, and this has yielded impressive and laudable results," she added.

Tisot made the remarks at the launching ceremony of a Chinese version of the 2006 Global Human Development Report entitled "Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis".

The annual UNDP report contains substantive data on most development indicators. The report also measures progress in improving life for citizens with the human development index (HDI).

Tisot said China is making steady progress in improving life for its citizens as the figure of China's HDI is 0.768, ranking 81 among 177 countries listed, surpassing 25 countries in the last three years.

Water pollution and over-exploitation of water resources are still widespread in China, but the government is taking good steps to address these issues including encouraging more community participation in decision making and more environmental impact assessments, she said.

Since 1990, the UNDP report ranks every country each year in areas such as per capita income, literacy, life expectancy and respect for women's rights.

The 2006 Global Human Development Report was released on Nov. 9 in Cape Town, South Africa, which focuses mainly on water for livelihood.

Source: Xinhua