China Water Conservation Investment to Rise 15%, Securities Says

Investment in water conservation this winter and next spring among governments and private companies in China will increase by more than 15 percent to more than 336.4 billion yuan ($54 million), the China Securities Journal reported.

The nation will raise public-finance spending further by requiring that 10 percent of the profits from land grants be used for water-conservation construction, the report said, citing Chen Lei, minister of water resources.

This year, China’s government has earmarked about 91 billion yuan, or 20.8 billion yuan more than a year ago, to keep drinking water safe in rural areas, renovate and construct large-scale irrigation and pumping stations, reinforce dangerous dams and conserve water and soil, Du Ying, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, was cited as saying.

To contact the reporter on this story: Feifei Shen in Beijing at fshen11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net