Minister of Water Resources E Jingping said on Thursday that the focus of China's water control work has shifted from conquering the nature to regulating human activities.
"In the past, water control in the country was dominated by fighting natural disasters such as droughts and floods," he said.
"But with the social and economic development, water shortages, damage to aquatic ecosystems and water contamination have become the main issues," he added.
He was speaking at the 60th ceremony of the founding of the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, a major research body on water issues in China, which he said had contributed greatly to the country's progress in water control via technological innovation.
The minister said one priority for now is to make up for the shortcomings in the country's water conservation facilities, with national strategies in mind such as the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and rural revitalization.
The other priority is to draw a bottom line for human activities by establishing an oversight standard tailored to local conditions, which could be easily quantified and executed, he said.
To accomplish the task, China should stick to the principle of water saving, and strike a balance between water conservation and development, as well as that between the government oversight and the market.
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