Catalog

People's Republic of China
ADB Review [ December 2006 - January 2007 ]

Few countries are more directly impacted by water issues than the PRC. Despite having the world's fourth largest freshwater reserves, the PRC, with just 7% of the world's water supplies yet 21% of its population, is likely to face severe water challenges over the coming years.

PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA The Yellow River, infamous for great floods, is slowly dying because of pollution and overdrawing; (right) a mother and her son from drought-stricken Gansu province also need a steady supply of clean, safe water

Issues include severe water pollution, inadequate urban and rural water supply, and the intense demand for water from booming industries, farms, and sprawling cities. These water-sector challenges can only be addressed through a coherent and integrated national water policy, a change in behavior, and a greater understanding of the challenges the country faces. The PRC Government also sees the private sector as playing an integral role.

"There are a lot of areas that could be further improved to increase investment," says Amy Leung, an Urban Development Specialist in ADB's East Asia Department. She notes, however, that it will be difficult given the cap on lending to the PRC at $1.5 billion; of that about 41% is for transport, 25.3% for agriculture and natural resources, 22.5% for social infrastructure, and 11.3% for energy. There is no lending cap, however, where projects involve private sector participation.

In the water sector, ADB has also focused on improving the urban environment, public health, and quality of life for urban residents through improving wastewater management and supply of potable water, construction and rehabilitation of sewer networks, and strengthening water resources management.

For example, the recently completed and ADB-financed Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Project to clean up the Suzhou Creek was important and a big success, says Ms. Leung. The once murky and severely polluted river, which passes through Shanghai, has been transformed into an ecological wonder.

Meanwhile, a second phase of a project to improve the handling of wastewater in the capital of Hebei Province was approved this year with a $100 million loan. Wuhan is home to almost 8 million people and is a center of communications, education, culture, commerce, trade, transportation, and industry.

The project will construct new and upgrade existing wastewater treatment facilities, extend and rehabilitate collection networks, and add larger-capacity stormwater pumping stations, among others. The city aims to treat 80% of its wastewater by 2010.

A third project, in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, will improve wastewater treatment through the construction and rehabilitation of sewer networks, rehabilitation of the system of inland creeks, and the strengthening of urban governance in water resources management.

There is also an increasing emphasis on the policy and management tools needed for better water resource management.

"The legal framework and governance are areas where we can work with the Government to improve," says Ms. Leung. There is a lot of work to be done as the water utilities move from complete central Government control to more independent financial and operational management.

Know more about the Suzhou Creek Rehabilitation Project

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