The 24th session of the 14th National People's Congress Standing Committee was held in Beijing from August 25 to 28. The draft revised water law will be submitted for a second review. Huang Haihua explained that in April 2026, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee conducted an initial review of the draft amendments to the Water Law. According to opinions from various parties, the second review draft is proposed to make the following main revisions: first, to clarify the general requirements for the construction of a national water network, add regulations on speeding up the construction of the national water network and coordinate water resources, water environment, aquatic ecology, water disaster management, etc.; second, to link with the Ecological Environment Code and improve the rigid restraint system for water resources; third, to implement requirements to reduce the burden at the grassroots level and clarify that local people's governments at or above the county level formulate watershed plans “according to actual needs”; fourth, strengthen the protection and conservation use of water resources and improve the water price formation mechanism.

The 24th session of the 14th National People's Congress Standing Committee was held in Beijing from August 25 to 28. The draft revised water law will be submitted for a second review. Huang Haihua explained that in April 2026, the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee conducted an initial review of the draft amendments to the Water Law. According to opinions from various parties, the second review draft is proposed to make the following main revisions: first, to clarify the general requirements for the construction of a national water network, add regulations on speeding up the construction of the national water network and coordinate water resources, water environment, aquatic ecology, water disaster management, etc.; second, to link with the Ecological Environment Code and improve the rigid restraint system for water resources; third, to implement requirements to reduce the burden at the grassroots level and clarify that local people's governments at or above the county level formulate watershed plans “according to actual needs”; fourth, strengthen the protection and conservation use of water resources and improve the water price formation mechanism.