This aerial photo shows the Dateng Gorge water conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, May 20, 2023. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

BEIJING, May 26  -- Chinese authorities have issued a guideline for shoring up the construction of a national water network amid the country's efforts to enhance the capability to safeguard water security.

The overarching document, jointly released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, guides the country's work in national water network construction throughout the 2021-2035 period.

By 2025, China will develop a batch of major projects concerning the national water network and strengthen efforts to shore up the weak links in water resource allocation, urban and rural water supply, flood control and drainage, water ecological protection, and smart water networks, said the guideline.

The intelligence level of the water network projects will improve, and the country's capacity to guarantee its water security will also be enhanced by then, per the guideline.

The long-term goals extending to 2035 include seeing a national water network take shape, creating water networks at the provincial, municipal, and county levels, and fostering a national water security system that meets the requirements of realizing socialist modernization, said the guideline.