China spends $50 bln on water conservation

China's Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) is boasting that it has spent CNY334.1 billion (USD52.82 billion) on water conservation this year.

Following three large-scale droughts and a growing realisation by central government of how polluted China's rivers and ground source water really is, the expenditure was up 70 percent, according to Xinhua.

China allocates 10 percent of income from land transfers to farmland irrigation and water conservancy construction, said Chen Lei, minister of the MWR. He added that part of this spending has delivered safe drinking water for more than 63 million rural residents.

He also said drinking water had been provided to 20.55 million drought-stricken residents and ensured the irrigation of 21.33 million hectares.