BEIJING, Nov. 16 -- China has been improving its water-saving industry, and has basically formed an industrial chain involving research and development, equipment manufacturing, project construction and service management, minister of water resources said in an interview with Xinhua.

The water-saving industry has begun to take shape, covering fields such as agricultural water-saving irrigation, industrial wastewater treatment, home water-saving appliances, pipeline leakage control, sewage recycling, seawater desalination and intelligent water-saving technology, Minister of Water Resources Li Guoying said.

China's water-use efficiency has been improving, with the water use per 10,000 yuan (1,395 U.S. dollars) of GDP and the water use per 10,000 yuan of industrial output in 2022 down 46.5 percent and 60.4 percent, respectively, from 2012, he said.

China has been strengthening innovation in the sector, providing more support for the research and development of water-saving products, technology and equipment, he noted.