China will work to ensure water supplies in rural areas during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), in a steady transition from efforts to provide safe drinking water in the countryside, according to a recent guideline issued by the Ministry of Water Resources, along with eight other departments.

The guideline, specifying requirements for the task, called for launching mass water supply projects and transforming small projects with set standards, while pursuing high-quality development on the basis of a stable supply of water.

Enhanced capacity to safeguard water access will thus help meet rural residents’ demand for rebuilding toilets, washing, sanitation and other purposes, it said.

The aim is to offer 88 percent of rural residents nationwide access to tap water by 2025, and achieve modernization in rural water supply by 2035.

Statistics showed that the country had 9.31 million sites for water supply projects in rural areas by the end of 2020, with the centralized water supply rate standing at 88 percent and the tap water coverage rate at 83 percent.

The guideline stressed ensuring water quality and collecting fees for water usage through better management and services, to deliver greater gains, happiness and security to rural residents.

Assigning responsibilities to governments at different levels, the guideline incorporated water supply into appraising municipal and county-level officials’ performance in advancing rural vitalization.

Provincial water authorities should create a plan for ensuring rural water supply over the next five years as soon as possible, detailing and assigning targets and tasks, the guideline said.