vi
Preface
and potential future developments. At the same time, the book considers issues at
both the national and the regional and river basin levels.
The book starts with a general introduction and overview of the hydrology, water
resources and development, and water issues in China. The book then presents a series
of general frameworks, including those representing the systems and institutions that
underpin management in China, including those at the river basin scale. Afterward,
specific issues are discussed, including water resources allocation and regulation,
water rights system, water pricing, groundwater management, and water quality
management. This is followed by an overview of policy, reforms, and innovations
over the last 20 years, such as recycled water use management, the “Strictest Water
Resources Strategy and Three Redlines,” the river and lake chief system, and water
resources asset management. Case studies from Beijing and Shanghai, the Yellow
River basin, northern China, and the Jiao River are also presented. The last chapters
focus on climate change, the conclusion, and outlook. The summary chapter reviews
the water policy changes since 1980, and outlook for the future.
I have been fortunate that my career development has occurred in parallel with the
development of water resources management in my country, which has allowed me
to research, learn from, and promote China’s water policy reform. Starting in the late
1990s, my research initially focused on socio-economic aspects of water resources.
I explored water pricing issues in China as a starting point, before moving into work
related to institutional arrangements, water rights, and beyond. Therefore, while the
book presents a record of water resources management of China over the past 40
years, it is also a record of my research over more than 20 years.
Writing this book was a long and painful, though also very happy, process, in
particular, for a non-native speaker of English. Thank you very much to Professor
Ariel Dinar for including my book in Global Water issues, a significant contribution
to water policy researches around the world. More important, it is your persistence,
enthusiasm, and passion to work and research, which I felt when I had my Fulbright
program at University of California, Riverside, which encouraged me to finish the
book. Many thanks to my friends, colleagues, and students: Dr. Xuetao Sun and Dr.
Bin Liu for allowing me the opportunity to be deeply involved in water resources
management policy design and implementation in China; Mr. Robert Speed and Mr.
Martin Coiser from Australia for helping me to develop the water rights framework;
Profs. Zhongjing Wang and Hang Zheng for being happy to work with me all the
time. Thanks to Ari Guna for helping me deal with the language editing. Many
thanks to my family. My parents not only support and are proud of my studying all
the time, but have also helped me to raise my two daughters for many years, as most
Chinese seniors do; thanks to Jianghe and Jiangnan, both of you are always so lovely
and sweet; thanks to Li Wen, although I do not smile all the time, you support my
work without any complaint. And last, I would like to deliver my special thanks to
my supervisors, Profs. Chuanyou Chen, Renqiong Su, Changming Liu, and Ruiju
Liang.
Preface
and potential future developments. At the same time, the book considers issues at
both the national and the regional and river basin levels.
The book starts with a general introduction and overview of the hydrology, water
resources and development, and water issues in China. The book then presents a series
of general frameworks, including those representing the systems and institutions that
underpin management in China, including those at the river basin scale. Afterward,
specific issues are discussed, including water resources allocation and regulation,
water rights system, water pricing, groundwater management, and water quality
management. This is followed by an overview of policy, reforms, and innovations
over the last 20 years, such as recycled water use management, the “Strictest Water
Resources Strategy and Three Redlines,” the river and lake chief system, and water
resources asset management. Case studies from Beijing and Shanghai, the Yellow
River basin, northern China, and the Jiao River are also presented. The last chapters
focus on climate change, the conclusion, and outlook. The summary chapter reviews
the water policy changes since 1980, and outlook for the future.
I have been fortunate that my career development has occurred in parallel with the
development of water resources management in my country, which has allowed me
to research, learn from, and promote China’s water policy reform. Starting in the late
1990s, my research initially focused on socio-economic aspects of water resources.
I explored water pricing issues in China as a starting point, before moving into work
related to institutional arrangements, water rights, and beyond. Therefore, while the
book presents a record of water resources management of China over the past 40
years, it is also a record of my research over more than 20 years.
Writing this book was a long and painful, though also very happy, process, in
particular, for a non-native speaker of English. Thank you very much to Professor
Ariel Dinar for including my book in Global Water issues, a significant contribution
to water policy researches around the world. More important, it is your persistence,
enthusiasm, and passion to work and research, which I felt when I had my Fulbright
program at University of California, Riverside, which encouraged me to finish the
book. Many thanks to my friends, colleagues, and students: Dr. Xuetao Sun and Dr.
Bin Liu for allowing me the opportunity to be deeply involved in water resources
management policy design and implementation in China; Mr. Robert Speed and Mr.
Martin Coiser from Australia for helping me to develop the water rights framework;
Profs. Zhongjing Wang and Hang Zheng for being happy to work with me all the
time. Thanks to Ari Guna for helping me deal with the language editing. Many
thanks to my family. My parents not only support and are proud of my studying all
the time, but have also helped me to raise my two daughters for many years, as most
Chinese seniors do; thanks to Jianghe and Jiangnan, both of you are always so lovely
and sweet; thanks to Li Wen, although I do not smile all the time, you support my
work without any complaint. And last, I would like to deliver my special thanks to
my supervisors, Profs. Chuanyou Chen, Renqiong Su, Changming Liu, and Ruiju
Liang.