China continues to make progress in improving living standards
as measured by the human development index (HDI), according to the
2006 Human Development Report, released yesterday by the
UN Development Program (UNDP) office in Beijing.?
In the last three years alone China surpassed nearly 25
countries in the HDI rankings to take the 81st position among the
175 developing countries listed, according to the report.
The HDI that measures education, health and other factors
relating to quality of life is released every year focusing on a
particular area of development.?
This year's?report is titled "Beyond Scarcity: Power,
Poverty and the Global Water Crisis" and highlights steps China has
taken toward meeting the water and sanitation needs of its rural
residents.?
"Now, provincial and county governments oversee plans for
meeting targets set by the government," the report states.
"Resources have been invested in developing and marketing sanitary
latrines designed for rural areas. Uptake has been impressive, with
rural sanitation coverage doubling in five years."
Alessandra Tisot, UNDP senior deputy resident representative in
China, reiterated the report's findings at a press conference
yesterday. "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," she
said.?
According to official statistics 96 million of China's 320
million people who are suffering from water shortage will have
access to clean water by the end of this year.
"The same goes for improved sanitation," she said. "Extending
rural access has been an important priority of the government and
this has yielded impressive and laudable results."?
According to the report global progress on meeting the
Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people
without sustainable access to safe drinking water is largely thanks
to progress in China and India.
However, the report also stresses that securing a sustainable
supply of clean water still poses a major challenge throughout
China where national per capita access to water is only a third of
the global average.?
First, the country's water resources are scattered unevenly and
water shortages occur on a seasonal basis. For example, the "3-H
basin" of the Haihe, Huaihe and Huanghe (Yellow) rivers accounts
for less than 8 percent of national water resources but supplies
nearly half of China's population.
Second, pollution caused by China's economic boom poses a
continued risk to the country's waterways. More than 70 percent of
the water in the "3-H" river system is now too polluted for human
use, according to the State Environmental Protection
Administration.
China's continued industrial expansion also brings higher risks
of industrial accidents like the one on the Songhua River a year
ago.?
The report also points out that over-exploitation of free water
sources is another factor behind the country's current shortage and
suggests that pricing and management should play a growing role in
water governance in China.
Despite the challenges noted in the report, Li Yuanhua, an
official?from the Ministry of Water Resources, said in
yesterday's press conference that China is still confident it will
end its water shortage by 2015.
"The country is investing substantially in water infrastructure,
especially in irrigation for agriculture, which is responsible for
about 70 percent of the country's water consumption," said Li.
"Such projects have already helped save 20 billion cubic meters of
water last year. The prospects are encouraging."?
(China Daily November 15, 2006)
