Program helps save water in urban areas

China has managed to save 97.2 billion cubic meters of water in its urban areas in the past two decades thanks to government conservation efforts, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The water saved is nine times the amount diverted annually by the middle route of the South-North Water Diversion Project, which mainly serves North China, where Beijing is located.

The sponge city program, which China started piloting in 2015 to absorb and capture rain water for utilization and flood control, has played an important role, the ministry said, as the country launched its annual publicity program for water conservation.