By Gu Jia

China will raise the price of its water by issuing gradual and affordable increases to better realize its water conservation goals, said Qiu Baoxing, the vice Minister of Construction.

"The country's reform of the water pricing system cannot be accomplished through one action as each area has its own issues and conditions," Qiu said, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday.

"China is feeding 21 percent of its global population with 7 percent of the earth's freshwater," Qiu said Sunday while he emphasized the importance of conserving the freshwater supply. "China is experiencing rapid developments in industrialization, and this trend may continue for 30 years. If it does, we will have to face more serious problems in water use and supply."

However, the water fee will only cover 20 percent of the cost of the supply, far from that of developed countries, Qiu said.

Price increases are an efficient way to help cut water consumption, but other measures like increasing efficiency, breaking the monopolizing of the water supply and raising the quality of drinking water will also work, he said.

"Hearings must be held before price hikes are issued to ensure the public benefit," Qiu said.

Shanghai, a large water consumer, plans to increase its water fees in the second half of this year to pay for water infrastructure construction projects, said a previous report.

The preliminary plan calls for an average increase of around 1 yuan (12 US cents) per cubic meter, which would be the biggest rise in recent years, the report said.