China built the world's largest and most comprehensive conservancy infrastructure network that benefits the largest population during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), according to data released by the Ministry of Water Resources on Wednesday.
The data showed that 88 rivers had been restored by the end of September this year, following the launch of the "mother river rejuvenation" action plan in 2022, with 79 of those rivers fully reconnected to the nation’s river network.
In the Haihe River Basin, 30 previously dried-up rivers have started flowing again and 102 springs have been restored, reversing a long-standing trend of dry channels and polluted waters, according to the ministry.
Between 2021 to 2025, China invested more than one trillion yuan (about 140 billion U.S. dollars) in water conservancy projects for three consecutive years, breaking historical records. The investment funded a new generation of water source, diversion, and irrigation projects, boosting the nation's total water supply capacity to 900 billion cubic meters.
The first phase of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project's eastern and middle routes, the backbone and main artery of the country's major water network, delivered more than 83 billion cubic meters in total, benefiting about 195 million people. The water network coverage rate is expected to reach 80.3 percent by the end of 2025.
"Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, [we] have been focusing on high-quality development and ensuring China's water security so as to comprehensively advance water conservancy infrastructure construction, which has helped form the world's largest and most functional water conservancy infrastructure system that benefits the largest population," said Zhang Xiangwei, director of the Department of Planning and Programming at the Ministry of Water Resources.
From 2021 to 2025, China has built 95,000 water reservoirs with a total capacity exceeding one trillion cubic meters. The country now ranks first globally in the number and types of reservoirs and the number of high dams.
Also, during the 14th Five-Year Plan, irrigated arable land has expanded to 1.09 billion mu (about 72.7 million hectares) across China, providing crucial water resources to support a record grain output of more than 700 million tonnes in 2024.
In addition, China has established the world's largest centralized rural water supply system, with 96 percent of the rural population expected to have access to tap water by the end of 2025.
China’s water infrastructures advance rapidly during 14th Five-Year Plan period
China's top housing authority has pledged to stabilize the real-estate market, rolling out a package of measures centered on city-specific policies to reduce inventories and optimize housing supply.
At a national conference held in Beijing on Tuesday, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced that stabilizing the real estate market will be a central priority next year.
In 2026, local governments across China are expected to focus on city-specific policies aimed at controlling new housing supply, reducing existing inventory, and optimizing housing availability. Efforts will be integrated with urban renewal projects and the redevelopment of urban villages to revitalize and better utilize existing land resources. Authorities will also promote the acquisition of unsold commercial housing stock for conversion into affordable housing, resettlement units, dormitories, and apartments for skilled professionals.
The supply of government-subsidized housing will be optimized and implemented with greater precision, while a national housing quality improvement initiative will advance the orderly construction of "good homes." The role of the real estate project "whitelist" system will be further expanded to support the reasonable financing needs of property developers.
Municipal governments are encouraged to make full use of their autonomy in real estate regulation, adjusting and refining housing policies as appropriate to support both rigid and improvement-oriented housing needs, thereby fostering stable operation across local property markets.
China will also accelerate the formation of a new development model for the real estate sector. This includes building a foundational institutional framework, solidifying the corporate-based project development model, implementing a lead bank system for real estate financing, and promoting the sale of completed homes, effectively reducing the risk of delivery failures. For areas that continue with pre-sale practices, stricter oversight will be applied to the management of pre-sale funds to protect buyers' legal rights.
At the same time, reforms to the housing provident fund system will be deepened. The government will launch a campaign to improve the quality of property services and explore a new model of community governance led by grassroots Party organizations in collaboration with neighborhood committees, homeowners' associations, and property management companies. Moreover, the "property services plus lifestyle services" model will be explored, expanding property-related services into households.
China pledges to stabilize property market
