Access
Access to an improved water source and improved sanitation has increased significantly in China over the past two decades in parallel with economic growth. Between 1990 and 2008 alone more than 450 million Chinese gained access to an improved water source, based on estimates by the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation of the WHO and UNICEF that are based on household survey data. Access to an improved water source was 89% and access to improved sanitation was 55% in 2008. Having access to an improved water source, however, is not the same as having access to safe water. Many of those who have access to adequate infrastructure suffer from poor water quality due to fecal contamination; high levels of naturally occurring fluoride, arsenic, or salts; and growing industrial and agricultural chemical pollution. Furthermore, seasonal water shortages occur.
| Urban (47% of the population) | Rural (53% of the population) | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | Improved water source | 98% | 85% | 91% |
| House connections | 95% | 45% | 68% | |
| Sanitation | Improved sanitation | 74% | 56% | 64% |
| Sewerage | n/a | n/a | n/a |
According to these figures, about 120 million Chinese did not have access to an improved source of water supply, and about 477 million did not have access to improved sanitation. Moreover, as in many other developing countries, there is a significant gap between urban and rural areas. For example, in urban areas of China 95% have access to piped water supply, while the share in rural areas is only 45%. The magazine The Economist described the urban-rural gap in the following stark terms: "The reforms that Deng Xiaoping first launched in China's countryside 30 years ago have now left its peasants in the ditch." It also observed that "the income disparity between China's richtest few and poorest many would make many a modern capitalist blush."
Read more about this topic: Water Supply And Sanitation In The People's Republic Of China
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—C. Wright Mills (1916–1962)