The State Council released a circular on Nov 9 to praise five provincial and municipal governments, including Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Chongqing and Shanghai, on their efforts to implement the most strict water resource controlling system during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2010-2015).

The 12th Five-Year Plan set several national goals, including limiting total water consumption to 635 billion cubic meters, a 30 percent decrease in water consumption for producing 10,000 yuan in industrial added value compared to 2010, and more than 60 percent of water quality in function zones of important rivers and lakes in China reaching set standards.

All the key numbers of water utilization in 2015, the last year of the plan, were within the set limits of conservation, including 610.32 billion cubic meters of water consumption in the nation, water consumption for producing industrial value decreased 36.7 percent compared to 2010, and 70.8 percent of rivers and lakes reached the standards.

Among all the provinces in the nation, the five regions did the best job in their water conservation work.

The announcement was aimed at further promoting the most strict water resource controlling system.

It urged all regions and departments to integrate the water-saving concept into the whole process of economic and social development to transform the economic development and water consumption modes, better serving the continuous and healthy development of the economy and society.