China ranks in the forefront worldwide in terms of the number of rivers and lakes.

Because most of the main rivers originate from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with big falls, China has abundant waterpower resources, with total reserves of 680 million kw, ranking first in the world. However, the waterpower resources are unevenly distributed, with 70 percent in southwest China. The Yangtze River system has the most waterpower resources, which account for nearly 40 percent of the national total, followed by the Yarlung Zangbo River system. The Yellow and Pearl river systems also abound in waterpower resources.

Total stock of water resources in 2005 was 2,743 billion cubic meters, or 2,098 cubic meters in per-capita terms, representing a year-on-year rise of 13.7 percent and 13 percent, respectively. The annual average precipitation was 628 mm, up 4.6 percent. The 454 large reservoirs in China stored 222.7 billion cubic meters of water at the end of 2005, or 28.3 billion cubic meters more than that at the end of 2004. Total water consumption went up 0.5 percent to reach 557.8 billion cubic meters, of which, water consumption for municipal use rose 6.9 percent; that for industrial use, up 3.7 percent; and that for agricultural use, down 1.6 percent. Water consumption for every 10,000 yuan worth of GDP produced was 357 cubic meters, a decline of 8.7 percent. Average per-capita water consumption was 427 cubic meters, maintaining the same level as in 2004. Some 21.63 million people and 19.69 million large domestic animals suffered temporary shortage of drinking water during the year.

Waterpower Reserves of Main River Systems

River system	Waterpower reserves (100m kw)	Proportion (%)
National total	6.8	100
Yangtze River	2.7	40
Yellow River	0.4	0.6
Pearl River	0.3	0.4
Heilongjiang River	0.1	0.1
Yarlung Zangbo and other rivers in Tibet	1.6	24