The State Council, China's cabinet, on March 21 passed a five-year plan for improving drinking water supplies in rural areas. The Chinese Government will strive to solve problems concerning drinking water safety for 298 million rural residents in 2011-15, according to a statement issued by the State Council.
A total of 114,000 rural schools and nearly 80 percent of the rural population will have access to safe drinking water through centralized water supply facilities, according to the statement.
In the 2006-11 period, 105 billion yuan ($17 billion) was used to provide 210 million rural inhabitants with safe drinking water across China.
Noting the poor quality of potable water in the rural areas, local governments were urged to improve protection of water sources as well as strengthen the prevention and treatment of water pollution. |