Floods, droughts highlight water challenges

Construction workers install low-pressure water pipelines in Heze, East China's Shandong province on Jan 24. Water conservancy programs are under construction to relieve local farmlands hit by a recent drought. [Photo/Xinhua]

China will strive to improve the country's underdeveloped water conservancy works over the next five to 10 years, according to a document issued jointly by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's cabinet on Saturday.

For thousands of years, China has been plagued by floods and droughts and, in recent years, their numbers have intensified.

Recently, East China's Shangdong province is suffering its worst dry season in six decades, and South China's provinces have experienced a month-long period of freezing rains and snows.

The extreme weather has accelerated the country's efforts to conserve more water and promote the sustainable use of water resources to improve the country's basic capabilities in disaster prevention and mitigation.