NPC told of increasingly safe drinking water

 BEIJING, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of people in China's rural areas who lack access to safe drinking water has reduced by 221 million from 2004 to 2010, the vice¹ minister of the country's National Development and Reform Commission said on Wednesday.

The feat² was accomplished³ after the country launched a government-led rural drinking water project, which attracted an investment of 109.3 billion yuan (17.2 billion U.S. dollars) from 2005 to 2010, said Du Ying in his report delivered at the ongoing⁴ bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress Standing⁵ Committee.

In 2004, 323 million rural residents in China were found to lack clean drinking water, according to Du.

Despite the achievement, new water pollution has offset⁶ the impact of the country's cleaning efforts. In April, Chen Lei, the Minister of Water Resources, said in a government work report that as many as 242 million residents of rural areas still lack access to safe drinking water.

The Chinese government will strive to solve the problems concerning drinking water safety for millions of rural residents from 2011-2015, according to China's five-year plan on safe drinking water.

By 2015, nearly 80 percent of the rural population will have access to safe drinking water through centralized water supply facilities, Du vowed⁷.

To improve drinking water quality in the countryside, the government will extend urban water supply networks, build centralized water supply systems away from cities and strengthen quality control over new drinking water projects, the official explained.

By 2015, the country will raise its drinking water supply capacity by 40 billion cubic meters, of which 26 billion cubic meters will be channeled to cities, according to the report.

China's drinking water sources are being threatened by industrial projects and other pollution, Du pointed⁸ out.

According to a survey launched by the Ministry⁹ of Environmental Protection in 2011, more than 11 percent of drinking water sources in cities of prefecture-level or above are below national standards.?

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

3 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

7 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。