BEIJING -- The Ministry of Water Resources has released a work plan, aimed at increasing the tap water accessibility in China's rural areas to 92 percent by the end of this year.

Large-scale water supply projects are also expected to serve 63 percent of the country's rural populations by the end of this year, according to the plan.

The ministry urged provincial-level regions to give priority to the integration of urban and rural water supply, and vigorously promote the construction of large-scale centralized water supply projects in areas where urban water supply networks cannot be reached.

Meanwhile, the ministry said, work should be done to advance standardized construction and transformation of small-scale water supply projects in places that can not be covered by the urban and rural water supply integration or large-scale water supply projects.

Earlier data showed that tap water coverage in China's rural areas had reached 90 percent in 2023, up 3 percentage points from the end of 2022.