China revises water law to emphasize conservation, sustainable development

China is revising its Water Law to better align it with the ecological environment code, as a draft amendment was submitted for a second reading to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.

"Some members of the NPC Standing Committee, NPC deputies, national government bodies and local governments suggested that in coordination with relevant provisions of the Ecological and Environmental Code, the draft should further improve the overall requirements for the protection, development and utilization of water resources," Cong Bin, a senior legislator of the NPC's Constitution and Law Committee told the session, reporting on the amendment.

The Constitution and Law Committee proposed additional provisions to the second-reading draft to strengthen coordinated governance of water resources, the water environment, water ecology and water-related disasters, Cong said.

It also suggested adding language calling for a modern industrial system compatible with the carrying capacity of water resources, as well as a stronger commitment to water conservation.

Under the draft, China would manage its rigid water resource constraints and continue to follow the principle of ensuring that the availability of water resources is taken into account in urban development, land use, population growth and industrial planning.

The amendment would also reaffirm the country's water-saving priority policy, advance the national water conservation campaign, and strengthen water-saving efforts in agriculture, industry and urban areas, while building a water-saving society.

Taking effect on Aug 15, which coincided with National Ecological Day, China's landmark Ecological and Environmental Code marks the country's second formal statutory code after the Civil Code.

Adopted by the NPC Standing Committee in March, the legislation comprises 1,242 articles across five chapters, addressing pollution control, ecological protection, and green and low-carbon development, among other areas.

houliqiang@chinadaily.com.cn