BEIJING -- China's rural tap water coverage reached 96 percent by the end of 2025, the Ministry of Water Resources said Tuesday.

By the end of last year, large-scale water supply projects covered 71 percent of the rural population, while 72 percent of counties had adopted unified county-level management for rural water supply, the ministry told a press conference.

China had nearly 3.82 million rural water supply projects by the end of 2025, forming a supply network covering 850 million rural residents.

The number of people relying mainly on water cellars and water storage tanks for water supply had dropped by 79 percent by the end of last year from the level at the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), areas lifted out of poverty completed 914.9 billion yuan (about $133.71 billion) in water conservancy investment, including 145.5 billion yuan in key counties receiving national rural revitalization assistance.

During the same period, localities secured 590.28 billion yuan for rural water supply construction, with local government bonds, bank loans, social capital and other sources accounting for 80 percent of the total.

China aims to raise rural tap water coverage to 97 percent by the end of 2026, with large-scale water supply projects covering 73 percent of the rural population, according to the ministry.

By 2030, the country aims to lift rural tap water coverage to 98 percent.