By 2010, some 100 million people, or one third of China's total rural residents plagued by unsafe drinking water, are expected to get out of the problem.

By then, for example, 70 percent of rural villages where drinking water contains excess levels of fluorine will get access to safe and clean water, bringing an end to the day-to-day danger.

This is one of the major targets set by water authorities during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), Wang Shucheng, minister of water resources, said yesterday in Beijing at a conference.

To optimize China's existing water resources, "we are pushing forward groundwork for the west line of the South-to-North Water Diversion project. Hopefully construction will begin by the end of this period," he disclosed.

The first phases of the project's east and middle lines are scheduled to be put into operation by 2010, with fresh water supplied to the thirsty north, particularly large cities like Beijing and Tianjin.

Meanwhile, the national annual water supply capacity is expected to increase by 40 billion cubic meters, to alleviate water shortage throughout the country within five years.

"The government is ready to launch a long-term project to deal with the lack of clean water, a situation threatening the health of some 360 million countrymen," he said. By 2010, one third of them will have access to clean water, he added.

It was estimated more than 63 million rural people in northern China have to drink water with a high fluorine content.

The health of about 2 million people has reportedly been affected by diseases related to drinking water with high arsenic content in parts of the Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Xinjiang, Ningxia and Jilin. Drinking water with high arsenic content can lead to several types of cancer.

Salty water has also become a threat to some 38 million rural residents in northern and eastern coastal areas.

Other targets the ministry has set for the next five-year plan are to improve flood-control along major water systems and risk management of floodwaters, ensure the safety of water control infrastructure for key cities, increase irrigated areas, promote water-saving and control pollution, Wang said.

"Floods still remain a major menace to the nation and its people," he warned. "The annual average deaths caused by flooding during the 2001-05 period were 1,510, with 161 million people across the country affected each year."

(China Daily December 19, 2005)