The total water resource volume in China is 28 000 × 10⁸m_³. According to the demographic statistics in 1997, the average water resource per person is 2 220 m3 and will be, by estimation, decreased to 1 760 m³ in the year of 2030 with the population growing to 16 × 10⁸. According to the commonly accepted standard, a nation which has a water resource volume per person below 1 700 m³ will be considered to be short of water resource. The water resource in future is seriously sufficient.

During the past 50 years, the national water consumption has been been lifted from above 1 000 × 10⁸ m³ in 1949 to 5 566 × 10⁸ m³ in 1997, among which agricultural water consumption was 75.3%, industrial water consumption 20.2%, and the water consumption in cities 4.5%. The average comprehensive water consumption per person rose from below 200 m³ to 458 m³. The problems confronted at present are: lack of flood prevention safety; coexistence of water resource shortage and the extravagance of water resource; the damage to e-cological environment resulted from over-exploitation of water and land resource; the deterioration of water environment and the rapid worsening of water pollution. These problems are very grave now.

This report points out that establishing modern agriculture which can efficiently save water can enable the present cultivated area and the irrigation water amount to produce sufficient products meeting the needs of population of 16 × 10⁸. The water consumtion peak in our country will appear around 2030, with the water con-sumption amounting (7 000〜8 000) x 10⁸ m³/a and the average water consumption per person 400 ~ 500 m³. By that time, the actual utilizable water volume throughout the whole country will be (8 000〜9 500) × 10⁸ m³, and that is to say the needed water amount will be approaching the utilizable water volume limit. Consequently, population should be strictly controlled from urther growing and water management to reinforced for the purpose of zero increase of needed water volume when population reaches zero-growth. The general strategy of water resource in China must be the sustainable utilization of water resource supporting the sustainable development of economy.

It is also proposed in this report that strategic shifting be implemented on aspects of flood and disaster prevention;agricultural water consumption; water consumption in cities and industry; pollution and disaster prevention;ecological environment construction; equilibrium between water supplying and needing; solutions to the water resource problem in northern and western China.