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The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress
Order of the President of the People’s Republic of China
No.74
The Water Law of the People’s Republic of China was modified and adopted at the 29th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth
National People’s Congress on August 29, 2002, the modified Water Law of the People’s Republic of China is hereby promulgated and
shall come into force as of October 1, 2002.
President of the People’s Republic of China: Jiang Zemin
August 29, 2002
Water Law of the People’s Republic of China(the modified edition) ContentsChapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Planning of Water Resources
Chapter III Development and Utilization of Water Resources
Chapter IV Protection of Water Resources, Water Areas and Water Projects
Chapter V Allocation and Economic Use of Water Resources
Chapter VI Settlement of Disputes over Water and Supervision and Inspection of Law Enforcement
Chapter VII Legal Responsibilities
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1
This Law is formulated for the rational development, utilization, preservation, and protection of water, for the prevention and control
of water disasters, and for the sustainable utilization of water resources in order to meet the needs of national economic and social
development.
Article 2
This Law must be observed in the development, utilization, preservation, protection, and management of water resources and in the
prevention and control of water disasters within the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
The “water resources” referred to in this Law include surface water and groundwater.
Article 3
Water resources shall be owned by the state. The State Council shall exercise ownership of water resources on behalf of the state.
Water in the ponds of rural collective economic organizations and in the reservoirs constructed and managed by rural collective economic
organizations shall be used by those organizations.
Article 4
The development, utilization, preservation, and protection of water resources and the prevention and control of water disasters shall
be carried out through comprehensive planning, with all factors taken into consideration. The planning shall seek both a temporary
solution and a permanent cure, with emphasis on multipurpose use and achieving maximum benefits to take advantage of the multiple
functions of water resources and harmonize water use in production and the environment.
Article 5
The people’s governments at and above the county level shall strengthen the construction of infrastructures for water conservation
that shall be included in plans for national economic and social development.
Article 6
The state shall encourage entities and individuals to develop and utilize water resources according to law, and to protect their legal
rights and interests. The entities and individuals developing and utilizing water resources shall bear an obligation to protect water
resources according to law.
Article 7
The state shall apply the systems of water licensing and paid use of water resources according to law, excepting collective economic
organizations and their members’ use of the water in the ponds and reservoirs owned by those organizations. The department of water
administration under the State Council shall be responsible for organizing the water license system implementation as well as the
nationwide paid use of water resource system.
Article 8
The state shall require strict economy in the use of water, vigorously promote measures for water saving, spread new technology and
techniques to conserve water, develop the water-conservation industry and agriculture and service industry, and establish a water-conservation
society.
The people’s governments at various levels shall take measures to improve the management of water preservation, establish the development
and distribution of water-conservation technology, and foster and develop water-preservation industries.
Entities and individuals shall bear an obligation to save water.
Article 9
The state shall protect water resources and adopt effective measures to preserve vegetation, plant trees, grow grass, conserve water
sources, prevent and control soil erosion and water pollution, and improve the ecological environment.
Article 10
The state shall encourage and support the research, distribution, and application of advanced technology for the development, utilization,
preservation, protection, and management of water resources and the prevention and control of water disasters.
Article 11
The people’s governments shall award the entities and individuals that have made outstanding achievements in the development, utilization,
preservation, protection and management of water resources and in the prevention and control of water disasters, etc.
Article 12
The state shall, with respect to water resources, adopt a system that organizes the administration by watersheds as well as by administrative
areas.
The department of water administration under the State Council shall be in charge of the unified administration and supervision of
water resources of the nation.
The watershed authorities, set up by the department of water administration under the State Council, at the important rivers and lakes
(as determined by the state) (hereinafter referred to as the watershed authorities) shall, within their respective jurisdictions,
exercise the water resource administration and supervision provided for by laws and regulations and authorized by the department
of water administration under the State Council.
The departments of water administration in the local people’s governments at and above the county level shall, according to the prescribed
limit of authorities, be in charge of the unified administration and supervision of water resources within their respective administrative
areas.
Article 13
The relevant departments under the State Council shall be in charge of the relevant work for the development, utilization, preservation
and protection of water resources.
The relevant departments of the local people’s governments at and above the county level shall, according to the division of duties,
be in charge of the relevant work to develop, utilize, preserve, and protect water resources.
Chapter II Planning of Water Resources
Article 14
The state shall formulate the strategic plan for water resources of the whole country.
The development, utilization, preservation and protection of water resources, and the prevention and control of water disasters, shall
be planned in a unified way on the basis of watersheds or regions. Plans are divided into watershed plans and region plans. Watershed
plans include comprehensive watershed plans and special watershed plans; region plans include comprehensive region plans and special
region plans.
The “comprehensive plans,” as used in the preceding paragraph, shall refer to the overall arrangements, formulated according to the
needs of economic and social development and the present situation of the development and utilization of water resources, for the
development, utilization, preservation and protection of water resources, as well as for the prevention and control of water disasters.
The “special plans,” as used in the preceding paragraph, shall refer to plans for prevention of floods, the control of water-logging,
irrigation, navigation, water supply, hydro-electric power generation, bamboo or log rafting, fishery, water resource protection,
water and soil conservation, prevention and control of sand disasters, and water preservation, etc.
Article 15
The region plan within a watershed shall be subject to the watershed plan, and the special plan shall be subject to the comprehensive
plan.
The comprehensive watershed plan and comprehensive region plan, as well as the special plan closely related to land utilization, shall
be coordinated with the plan for national economic and social development, the overall plan for land utilization, the overall urban
plan, and the plan for environment protection, and shall take account of the needs of the areas and industries.
Article 16
In order to draw up a plan, a comprehensive scientific survey and an investigation and assessment of water resources must be undertaken
by the department of water administration of the people’ s government at or above the county level jointly with the relevant department
at the corresponding level.
The people’s government at or above the county level shall improve the construction of the information system on hydrologic and water
resources. The department of water administration of the people’s governments at or above the county level and the watershed authorities
shall strengthen the dynamic monitoring of water resources.
The basic hydrologic materials shall be publicized pursuant to the relevant provisions of the state.
Article 17
The comprehensive watershed plans for important rivers and lakes determined by the state shall be formulated by the department of
water administration under the State Council This will be in conjunction with the relevant departments under the State Council and
the people’s governments of the relevant provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government,
and shall be submitted to the State Council for approval. The comprehensive watershed plans and comprehensive region plans for other
rivers and lakes running across provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be formulated
by the relevant watershed authorities in conjunction with the departments of water administration and the relevant departments of
the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government where the
rivers and lakes are located. After the relevant people’s governments examine those plans and give their opinions, the plans shall
be submitted to the department of water administration under the State Council for examination, which shall, after seeking opinions
from the relevant departments under the State Council, submit the plans to the State Council or the department authorized thereby
for approval.
The comprehensive watershed plans and comprehensive region plans for rivers and lakes other than those described in the preceding
paragraph shall be formulated by the departments of water administration of the local people’s governments at and above the county
level, jointly with the relevant departments at the corresponding level and the relevant local people’s governments, and shall be
submitted to the corresponding people’s governments or the departments authorized thereby for approval, as well as to the departments
of water administration at the next higher level for record.
The special plans shall be formulated by the relevant departments of the people’s governments at and above the county level, and shall
be submitted to the corresponding people’s governments for approval after those departments seek opinions from other relevant departments
at the corresponding level. Among these special plans, the formulation and approval of plans on the prevention of floods, and water
and soil conservation plans, shall be carried out according to the relevant provisions of the Law on Prevention of Floods and the
Law on Water and Soil Conservation.
Article 18
A plan shall be strictly carried out once it has been approved.
When modifying the approved plan is necessary, the modification must be approved by the original approving department in accordance
with the procedures for plan formulation.
Article 19
Construction of a water project must be in conformity with the comprehensive watershed plan. With respect to the water projects constructed
on the important rivers and lakes (as determined by the state) and the rivers and lakes running across provinces, autonomous regions,
and municipalities directly under the Central Government, before the project feasibility reports are submitted for approval the relevant
watershed authorities shall examine and give opinions on whether the construction of the water project is in conformity with the
comprehensive watershed plan. With respect to the construction of water projects on other rivers and lakes, before the project feasibility
reports are submitted for approval, the water administration departments of the local people’s governments at or above the county
level shall, according to the limit of their authorities, examine and give opinions on whether the construction of water projects
conforms to the comprehensive watershed plans. Where the construction of a water project involves prevention of floods, the relevant
provisions of the Law on Prevention of Floods shall be observed; where other regions and industries are involved, the construction
entity shall seek opinions from the relevant regions and departments in advance.
Chapter III Development and Utilization of Water Resources
Article 20
The development and utilization of water resources shall follow the principle of promoting benefits while eliminating disasters. It
shall take into consideration the interests of upstream and downstream areas, of the left and right banks, and of all regions concerned
to take advantage of the comprehensive benefits of water resources; it shall also conform to the overall arrangement for the prevention
of flood.
Article 21
The development and utilization of water resources shall first satisfy the needs of the urban and rural inhabitants in their domestic
use of water and give overall consideration to the agricultural, industrial and ecological need for water as well as to the needs
of navigation.
In dry and semi-dry areas, the development and utilization of water resources shall take into full consideration the ecological environment’s
need for water.
Article 22
In case of inter-watershed diversion, an overall plan and a scientific justification must be conducted and consideration given to
the demand for water in the watershed which supplies the water and in the watershed which receives it, while avoiding damages to
the ecological environment.
Article 23
The local people’s governments at various levels shall, in light of the actual situations of water resources of their respective regions,
rationally organize the development and comprehensive utilization of water resources according to the principles of unified management
and development of surface water and groundwater. It will open up the source while regulating the flow with priority given to regulation
as well as disposition and reuse of the sewage.
The formulation of national economic and social development plans and overall urban plans, and the layout of major construction projects,
shall be compatible with the conditions of the local water resources and the requirements of flood prevention, and scientific justification
shall be undertaken. In areas where the water sources are insufficient, the scale of the urban area and the development of industrial,
agricultural and service undertakings that use a large amount of water shall be restricted.
Article 24
In areas short of water resources, the state shall encourage the collection, development and utilization of rain and minor salt water
and the utilization and desalination of seawater.
Article 25
The local people’s governments at various levels shall improve the leadership over the work of irrigation, draining saturated fields,
and water and soil conservation, thus promoting the development of agriculture production. In areas where brackishness or saturation
is likely to take place, the governments shall take actions to control and lower the level of groundwater.
Where a rural collective economic organization or its members invest to construct water project facilities on the collective land
owned by the organization or land contracted by a member, the water project facilities and the water stored in them shall be managed
and rationally used according to the principle that “the party that invests in and constructs the facilities shall be the one to
manage and benefit from such facilities.”
The construction of a water reservoir by a rural collective economic organization shall be subject to the approval of the department
of water administration of the local peoples’ government at or above the county level.
Article 26
The state shall encourage the development and utilization of hydraulic power potential. On rivers with hydraulic power potential,
multipurpose cascade development shall be effected in a planned way.
In the development of hydropower stations, the ecological environment shall be protected and the needs for flood control, water supply,
irrigation, navigation, bamboo and log rafting, fishery, etc. shall be taken into account.
Article 27
The state shall encourage the development of water transport resources. When permanent dams and sluice-gates are built on rivers which
are migrating channels for aquatic creatures, or are navigable or suitable for bamboo and log rafting, the construction entity must
simultaneously build facilities for the passage of fish and ships and for bamboo and log rafting or, after approval by a department
authorized by the State Council, take other remedial measures. The construction entity must also make adequate arrangements for the
protection of aquatic creatures, navigation, and bamboo and log rafting during the construction period and the initial water-filling
period, and bear the expenses incurred thereby.
Where a non-navigable river or man-made waterway becomes navigable after a dam or sluice-gate is built, the construction entity shall
simultaneously build facilities for the passage of ships or reserve sites for such facilities.
Article 28
No entity or individual shall, while channeling, storing, or discharging water, infringe upon public interests or the lawful rights
and interests of other people.
Article 29
The state shall apply the policies of resettlement of inhabitants for development purposes to the resettlement of inhabitants in construction
of water projects, and shall appropriately arrange the production and lives of the resettled inhabitants and protect their lawful
rights and interests according to the principles of providing compensation and subsidy in the early stage and support in the latter
stage.
The resettlement of inhabitants shall be conducted at the same pace as that of the project construction. The construction entity shall,
according to the environment capacity of the area of resettlement and the principle of sustainable development, formulate a plan
for inhabitant resettlement in accordance with local conditions, and the relevant local people’s government shall organize the implementation
of the plan after it has been approved according to the law. The expenses incurred in the resettlement of inhabitants shall be included
in the investment plan for project construction.
Chapter IV Protection of Water Resources, Water Areas and Water Projects
Article 30
In the formulation of a plan for development and utilization of water resources, and in the management of water resources, the water
administration department of the people’s government at or above the county level, the watershed authorities, and other relevant
departments shall attend to maintenance of the rational volume of flow of the rivers and the rational water level of the lakes, reservoirs,
and groundwater as well as the maintenance of the natural purifying capacity of the water.
Article 31
The approved plan shall be observed in the development, utilization, preservation, and protection of water resources and the prevention
and cure of water disasters. If anyone causes the decline of functions of the rivers and lakes, over-collection of groundwater, or
subsidence of ground or water pollution in violation of the plan, he or she shall bear the responsibility for treatment.
Where mining or the construction of other underground projects results in a lowering of the groundwater level, the depletion of groundwater
or the subsidence of the ground because of water drainage, the mining entity or the construction entity shall take remedial measures.
Where losses are caused to the livelihood and production of entities or individuals, such losses shall be compensated.
Article 32
The water administration department under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the environmental protection department, the
relevant departments under the State Council, and the people’s governments of the relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities
directly under the Central Government, delimit the water functional regions of the important rivers and lakes determined by the state
according to the comprehensive watershed plans, water resource protection plans and economic and social development requirements,
and report to the State Council for approval. The water functional regions of other rivers and lakes running across provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be delimited by the water administration departments, the
environmental protection departments, and other relevant departments of the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions
and municipalities directly under the Central Government where those rivers and lakes are located. The regions shall, after the relevant
people’s governments examine and give their opinions, be examined by the water administration department under the State Council
jointly with the environmental protection department under the State Council. The opinions shall be submitted to the State Council
or the departments authorized thereby for approval.
The water functional regions of the rivers and lakes other than those prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be delimited by
the water administration departments of the local people’s governments at or above the county level jointly with the environmental
protection departments and the relevant departments of the people’s governments at the corresponding level. The examination results
shall be submitted to the people’s governments at the corresponding level or departments authorized thereby for approval, and to
the water administration departments and environmental protection departments at the next higher level for record.
The people’s government water administration departments at and above the county level, or the watershed authorities, shall, according
to the water functional regions’ requirements for water quality and the natural purifying capacity of the water, determine the pollutant-carrying
capacity of those water areas, and present opinions to the departments of environmental protection on the limitation of total pollutants
discharge for those water areas.
The people’s governments water administration departments at and above the county level, or the watershed authorities, shall monitor
the water quality of the water functional regions. Where they find the total discharge of major pollutants exceeds the limitation
or the water quality of the water functional regions fails to meet the requirements of the functions of the water areas, they shall
promptly report to the relevant people’s governments for treatment as well as notifying the environmental protection departments.
Article 33
The state shall establish the system of protection of drinking water resources. The people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall set the drinking water resource conservation districts and
take necessary measures to prevent the water sources from drying up or being polluted, thus guaranteeing the safety of drinking water
for urban and rural residents.
Article 34
It is prohibited to set up outlets for discharging sewage into the drinking water resource conservation districts.
The establishment, modification or expansion of outlets for discharging sewage on rivers and lakes shall be subject to the consent
of the water administration departments or watershed authorities with the jurisdiction, and the environmental protection departments
shall be responsible for the examination and approval of the environmental impact reports of those construction projects.
Article 35
When any construction project occupies the water source for agricultural irrigation, the irrigation facilities, or drainage projects,
or has adverse impact on the original water source for irrigation, the construction entity shall take the relevant remedial measures
and shall compensate for the loss if there is any.
Article 36
In areas where groundwater has been over-collected, the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall impose strict
control on the collection of groundwater. In the areas where groundwater has been seriously over-collected, the prohibition districts
or limitation of groundwater collection may be delimited upon the approval of the people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
For collection of groundwater in coastal areas, scientific justifications shall be undertaken, and measures shall be taken to prevent
ground subsidence and sea invasion.
Article 37
It is prohibited to abandon or pile in any river, lake, reservoir, or canal objects that block the passage of floodwater. Planting
trees or growing crops of a long-stalk variety that may block the passage of floodwater is also prohibited.
It is prohibited, within the range of riverway administration, to construct any building or structure that blocks the passage of flood
water or to conduct any activity that affects the river flow, impairs the safety of river banks and dikes, or hampers the passage
of flood water.
Article 38
The construction of bridges, wharfs and other buildings and structures that block, cross, or border the river, and the laying of pipes
or cables that cross the river within the range of riverway administration shall meet the standards for prevention of flood and other
related technical requirements set by the state. The plans for a construction project shall be submitted to the water administration
departments for examination and approval in accordance with the relevant provisions of the law on flood prevention.
Where the building of any of the structures or facilities referred to in the preceding paragraph requires extension, modification,
removal, or destruction of the original water structures or facilities, the entity constructing the new project shall bear the expenses
for extension or modification and the expenses for the compensation of losses, unless the original structures or facilities were
built in violation of the law.
Article 39
The state shall apply a license system for sand quarrying. The sand quarrying license implementation measures in the riverway shall
be provided by the state.
Where any sand quarrying within the range of riverway administration affects the river flow or endangers the safety of dikes, the
people’s government water administration department at the county level or above shall delimit the prohibition districts and prescribe
the prohibition period, which shall be publicly announced.
Article 40
It shall be prohibited to reclaim parts of a lake for use as farmland. Those already reclaimed shall be restored to the lake according
to the state-prescribed flood prevention standards.
It shall be prohibited to reclaim parts of a riverway for use as farmland. Where the reclaiming is indeed necessary, it shall be scientifically
justified. Reclamation shall, with the consent of the water administration department of the people’s government of the province,
autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government or the water administration department under the State Council,
be submitted to the people’s government at the corresponding level for approval.
Article 41
Entities and individuals shall bear the obligation of protecting water projects, and may not seize or destroy project facilities such
as dikes, bank revetments, flood prevention facilities, hydrologic monitoring facilities, or hydrogeologic monitoring facilities.
Article 42
The local people’s governments at and above the county level shall take measures to guarantee the safety of the water projects within
their respective administrative areas, especially the dams and dikes, and to eliminate dangerous conditions within the prescribed
period. The departments of water administration shall strengthen the supervision and administration of the safety of water projects.
Article 43
The state shall protect water projects. For the water projects owned by the state, the scope of project administration and protection
shall be delimited according to the provisions of the State Council.
For water projects managed by the water administration department under the State Council or the watershed authorities, the scope
of project administration and protection shall be delimited by the water administration department or the watershed authorities through
consultation with the relevant people’s governments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central
Government.
For water projects other than those prescribed in the preceding paragraph, the scope of project protection and the duties of protection
shall be delimited according to the provisions of the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly
under the Central Government.
Within the scope of water project protection, it shall be prohibited to conduct activities, such as blasting, sinking a well, rock
quarrying or earth collection, that affect the function or endanger the safety of water projects.
Chapter V Allocation and Economic Use of Water Resources
Article 44
The development planning departments and the water administration department under the State Council shall be in charge of the macro-allocation
of the water resources of the nation. The middle- and long-term plans for the supply and demand of water for the country and for
regions covering different provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be formulated
jointly by the State Council water administration department and other relevant State Council departments, and be submitted to the
development planning State Council department for approval before execution. Local middle- and long-term plans for the supply and
demand of water will be based on the middle- and long-term plan for the supply and demand of water made by the water administration
department of the people’s government at the next higher level and the actual local conditions. It will be formulated by the water
administration department jointly with the other relevant departments of the local people’s government at or above the county level,
and shall be submitted to the development planning department of the people’s government at the corresponding level for approval
before execution.
The middle-and long-term plan for the supply and demand of water shall be formulated on the basis of the present water supply and
demand situation, the plan for national economic and social development, the watershed plan, and the regional plan, according to
the principles of coordination of the supply and demand of water resources, comprehensive balance, protection of the ecology, strict
economic use, and rational opening of resources.
Article 45
For the regulation and storage of the runoff and the water allocation, the plans for water allocation shall be formulated on a watershed
basis in accordance with the watershed plan and the middle-and long-term plan for the supply and demand of water.
A water allocation plan covering different provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government
or a water diversion sketch under urgent drought conditions shall be formulated by the watershed authorities through consultation
with the relevant people’s governments o
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The State Administration of Taxation
Circular of the State Administration of Taxation on Strengthening the Payment of Individual Income Tax by Self-assessment of the Investors
of Law Firms and Other Intermediary Agencies
GuoShuiFa [2002] No.123
September 29, 2002
Local tax bureaus of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and municipalities separately
listed on the State plan:
It has been found that, for a period of time, some localities have applied the method of collection of individual income tax upon
verification for the whole trade of law firms, the tax burden verified is obviously lower that the statutory tax burden. This kind
of doing has failed to comply with the Circular of the State Council on Approving and Transmitting the Opinions of the State Administration
of Taxation on Strengthening the Administration of Tax Collection and Reinforcing the Tax Payment by Self-assessment of Individual
Private Businesses (GuoFa [1997] No.12), is likely to lead to unfair tax burden and is adverse to brining into play the role of individual
tax in adjusting the high incomes. In order to strengthen the administration of collection of individual income tax of the investors
of laws firms and other intermediary agencies, the relevant issues are notified as follows:
I.
No locality may apply the method of tax collection upon verification to the whole trade of law firms. The localities shall observe
the Tax Collection Law and the Document GuoFa [1997] No.12, collect the individual income tax by self-assessment over the law firms
where it is possible.
II.
The localities that have applied the method of tax collection upon verification to the whole trade of law firms must correct their
doings before the end of this year, and shall report to the State Administration of Taxation about the correction before the end
of March of 2003.
III.
With respect to the law firms for which tax can’t be collected upon auditing according to Article 35 of the Tax Collection Law, the
payable tax amount shall be assessed at the rate of taxable income determined in the Circular of the Ministry of Finance and the
State Administration of Taxation on Printing and Distributing the Provisions on the Collection of Individual Income Tax over Investors
of Sole Proprietorships and Partnerships (CaiShui [2000] No.91). The localities shall assess their business income according to the
number of the employees and business scale etc, and assess the rate of taxable income on the basis of the higher profit level of
the same trade of the locality, and the rate shall not be any lower than 25%. The law firms over which the tax is collected upon
verification shall be urged to establish account books, and change the method to tax payment by self-assessment as soon as the necessary
conditions are met.
IV.
The localities shall strictly carry out the Circular of the State Administration of Taxation on the Relevant Business Concerning the
Collection of Individual Income Tax over Income of Practitioners in Law Firms (GuoShuiFa [2000] No.149), and strengthen the administration
of collection of individual income tax over law firms. With respect to the lawyers as employees of law firms, if their expenses for
case handling or other individual expenses are borne by the law firms, the case expenses less than 30% of their income provided for
in Paragraph 2 of Article 5 of Document GuoShuiFa [2000] No.149 shall no longer be deducted in the calculation of their income.
V.
The administration of collection of individual income tax of accounting firms, tax agencies, auditing firms and other intermediary
agencies shall follow the aforesaid principles.
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