China is preparing to significantly expand and modernise its national water infrastructure over the next five years, with the government targeting nationwide water-network coverage of 82
percent by 2030.
Water Resources Minister Li Guoying said the country would make the development of a modern water network a priority during the 15th Five-Year Plan period, covering 2026 to 2030. The programme is designed to improve flood protection, strengthen water supplies, expand agricultural irrigation and restore vulnerable ecosystems.
A central focus will be strengthening China's flood-control infrastructure. The government plans to improve the coordinated operation of reservoirs, rivers, levees and designated flood-storage areas, while upgrading monitoring and forecasting systems using satellites, weather radar, rainfall monitoring stations and hydrological networks.
China aims to increase reservoir storage capacity by 15 billion cubic metres by the end of the decade. It also plans to bring 91 percent of key levees up to required standards, according to Li.
The government will also develop a more integrated system for allocating and supplying water. National backbone projects will be linked more closely with water networks operated at provincial, municipal and county levels, allowing resources to be distributed more efficiently between regions facing different levels of water stress.
Agriculture is another major component of the programme. China plans to modernise irrigation districts and improve the management and standardisation of rural water-supply systems. By 2030, the country intends to add 40 million mu of irrigated farmland, equivalent to approximately 2.67 million hectares, while increasing rural tap-water coverage to 98 percent.
Environmental protection will form a further pillar of the strategy. Authorities plan to accelerate the restoration of rivers and lakes, address excessive groundwater extraction and combat soil erosion. An additional 310,000 square kilometres of erosion-affected land is targeted for treatment by the end of 2030.
The programme will also introduce a stronger digital component. China plans to establish a national water-network dispatch centre, supported by a major water-sector big-data centre and basin-level sub-centres. These facilities are expected to provide real-time monitoring, intelligent data analysis, forecasting and decision-support capabilities.
According to the ministry, the digital infrastructure will help authorities coordinate responses to floods and droughts while balancing water supply requirements with ecological protection.
The push reflects China's concerns over the country's uneven distribution of water resources and increasing exposure to extreme weather. Water availability varies considerably between regions and seasons, while climate change is contributing to more frequent and severe floods and droughts.
Water infrastructure has been designated as one of six major national networks to be prioritised during the 2026–2030 planning period. The other five are next-generation power grids, computing-power networks, advanced communications networks, urban underground pipeline systems and logistics networks.
China's latest plans build on substantial investment during the previous five-year period. Between 2021 and 2025, the country invested 5.68 trillion yuan (around $843 billion) in water-conservation infrastructure, according to the ministry. During that period, construction began on 181 major water projects, while 94 major projects were completed and placed into operation.
By the end of 2025, China's national water network covered 80.3 percent of the country's territory. The new five-year programme is intended to extend that coverage while making the system more resilient, digitally connected and capable of responding to growing pressure from climate-related water risks. Photo by Davide Restivo from Aarau, Switzerland, Wikimedia commons.
