我国城市供水价格体系的市场化原因分析与其途径Bi-xia HUANG De-jun(School of Public Policy and Management, HohaiUniv. )Abstract: Water shortage is a severe problem in China. Though the country is rich in water resources, it ranks 121st in the world in terms of per capita share of water resources. Using the wrong way to do with the groundwater has result in a lot of environmental problems. Some 400 out of 668 citizen China lack water supply, which decreased the industrial output value by 230 billion yuan (27.7 billion US dollars) annually.A low water price is the root cause of wasting water resources. In arid rural China, the price of 1,000 cubic meters of water for farm use is no more than the price of a bottle of mineral water. It is very important that china should take out a set of laws and police to prevent the water source from waste and over consumption. We are glad to see that Beijing and Hebei, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces will follow the example of Yinchuan to adopt progressive charging on water consumption. Some municipalities and provincial capitals are making active preparations in a bid to put progressive water charging into practice before 2024. In some cities families which consume less than 12 tons of water a month pay 1.15 yuan for each ton of water. The price per ton of water above 12 tons will be increased by 60 cents, and the price of water will be doubled when the monthly water consumption exceeds 18 tons. Meanwhile, industrial enterprises, public institutions and business firms also pay a higher price for excessive water consumption.Those decisions of charging more for excessive water consumption will help people cultivate the concept of water saving, while putting n...