China: We will step up efforts to guarantee safe drinking water

The Chinese government has said it will increase its efforts to ensure people living in rural areas have access to safe drinking water.

It has also said it will work with international water communities in its bid to clean up water supplies and sustainability, chinadaily.com.cn reported.

These intentions were revealed by the country's minister for water resources Chen Lei during an international forum on water resources and hydropower.

The forum attracted 400 water experts and researchers and was the first ever held in the country.

Mr Lei announced: "By 2013 we would ensure safe drinking water for rural residents with no access to such supply in an all-round way."

Overhauling water technology was also on the agenda at the forum, as the minister said the government plans to allocate over half of the country's irrigation water supply to crops by 2020.

This announcement comes as more than 200 people fell sick in the southern province of Guangxi due to their water supply being contaminated with arsenic.