1　General

In 2014, the average precipitation in China was 622.3 mm, almost equal to normal. The quantity of surface water resources was 2,626.39 billion m3, 1.7% less than normal; the quantity of groundwater resources was 774.50 billion m3, 4.0% less than normal; and the quantity of groundwater resources non-overlapping with surface water was 100.30 billion m3. The total quantity of water resources was 2,726.69 billion m3, 1.6% less than normal.

In 2014, 18.70 billion m3 of water flowed from abroad into China; 538.69 billion m3 flowed out of China; 121.78 billion m3 flowed from China into the border rivers between China and other countries; and the total quantity of water flowing from China into the sea was 1,632.97 billion m3, or 72.33 billion m3 more than that in 2013.

The total water storage of 601 large-sized and 3,310 medium-sized reservoirs in the country increased by 22.92 billion m3 in 2014. The year-end storage of shallow groundwater was 7.25 billion m3 less than the yearbeginning value in the groundwater exploitation areas of the northern plains.

In 2014, the national water supply/use in China was 609.5 billion m3. Surface water supply was 492.1 billion m3, accounting for 80.8% of the total water supply; groundwater supply was 111.7 billion m3, 18.3%; and other water source supply was 5.7 billion m3, 0.9%. Domestic water use was 76.7 billion m3, accounting for 12.6% of the total water use; industrial water use was 135.6 billion m3, 22.2%; agricultural water use was 386.9 billion m3, 63.5%; and ecological and environmental water use (referred to artificial water supply for urban ecology and environment and part of water supplement to rivers, lakes and wetlands) was 10.3 billion m3, 1.7%. The national water consumption was 322.2 billion m3 with a consumption rate (proportion of consumption to use) of 53%. The national waste water discharge was 77.1 billion tons (not including that of once-through cooling water for thermal power generation and mine effluent).

In 2014, the per capita water use in the country was 447 m3 and the water use per 10,000 yuan of GDP (at current price) 96 m3. The irrigation water use per mu of farmland was 402 m3; the irrigation water efficiency coefficient was 0.530; the water use per 10,000 yuan of added industrial output value (at current price) 59.5 m3; and the per capita domestic water use in urban areas 213 L/d (including public water use) and that in rural areas 81 L/d. Based on comparable price, the water uses per 10,000 yuan of GDP and added industrial output value decreased by 26% and 32% on the 2010 basis, respectively.

Water quality evaluation was made for 216,000 km of river reaches in 2014, showing that the water quality was generally at the medium level, and 72.8% of the total evaluated river reaches had a water quality of Classes I-III, which was 3.3 percentage points higher than that in 2013. In addition, water quality was evaluated for 121 lakes, 32.2% of the lakes had a water quality of Classes I-III, and 76.9% of them were in a eutrophic state. Water quality was also evaluated for 661 reservoirs, and 80.8% of the reservoirs had a water quality of Classes I-III; and trophic state was evaluated for 635 reservoirs and 37.3% of them were in a eutrophic state. Water quality evaluation was also made for 3,027 national important water function zones of rivers and lakes and 2,056 of them, or 67.9%, satisfied the requirement for the main control parameters for the red line for limiting pollutant discharge to water function zones. Water quality was evaluated for 527 provincial-border monitoring sections, 64.9% of which had a water quality of Classes I-III.

Geographical Areas of Eastern China, Central China and Western China

Eastern China: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Guangdong and Hainan

Central China: Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei and Hunan

Western China: Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Tibet, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang