Beijing (TDI): China has constructed the world’s largest and most comprehensive water infrastructure network, with investment during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–25) projected to exceed 5.4 trillion yuan ($756.96 billion), Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying announced on Monday.
China’s annual investment in water conservancy exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time in 2022 and has set new records for three consecutive years, reaching 1.35 trillion yuan in 2024.
The total outlay under the current plan will be 1.6 times greater than during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016–20).
Since 2021, authorities have launched 172 major projects to optimize the country’s water infrastructure layout.
By the end of 2024, China had completed 95,000 reservoirs, 200 large and medium-scale water transfer projects, 6,924 irrigation districts, and 318,000 kilometers of dikes, forming a system unmatched in size, functionality, and population served.
Read More: China Delivers Relief Aid for Pakistan’s Flood Victims
Li highlighted that flood and drought defenses have also been strengthened, with reservoirs providing 185.6 billion cubic meters of flood storage, dikes protecting 660 million people, and national flood detention capacity reaching 109 billion cubic meters.
As a result, flood losses as a share of GDP have declined from 0.28% to 0.18% during the plan period.
Read More: China Creates 59.2m Urban Jobs, Exceeds 14th Five-Year Plan Target
Looking ahead, by 2025 China’s national water network is expected to cover 80.3% of the country, with irrigated farmland expanding to 72.7 million hectares and rural tap water coverage reaching 96%.
Officials say the system will safeguard food security, underpin national strategies, and improve public well-being.
