Chinanews, Beijing, Mar. 14 – Currently 800 million farmers in China may be threatened by unclean water, and 320 million people may have difficult access to clean water, according to the Green Paper of Environment released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on March 12.

 

The Green Paper points out that China has incurred several pollution incidents assumably attribute to unclean water. Currently China has some 600 thousand counties and 2.5 million villages. There are three problems facing Chinese farmers there to get clean water:

 

First is that water in many Chinese villages contains fluorine, arsenic or salt. Particularly in northeastern China, there is not enough drinkable water for farmers.

 

Second is polluted water in villages can’t be managed well. A survey launched by the Ministry of Construction in 2005 found that 96% of villages have no sewage systems, and 89% of villages have rubbish treatment plants.

 

Third is there is a lack of stable funds for construction of sewage systems in the rural areas. Local budget is in no position to undertake all these projects, which so urgently needs financial support from the central government.