Water Rights and Water Market: Case Study in Contemporary China

Abstract

This chapter studies the developments of water market in contemporary China by the case study method under the water rights hierarchy framework. Six cases have been selected, all taking place over the past 15 years, which reflect the latest changes in the water rights structure. This chapter aims to reveal theoretical implications of these cases. First of all, the author presents an analytical framework for the case study and divides the six cases into five categories according to the water rights hierarchy conceptual model. The first category covers water rights trading at the user level as depicted by the case in the Hongshui Irrigation Area of Minle County in Northwest China’s Zhangye Prefecture, with the irrigation water rights trading in the Guangzhong Area during the Qing Dynasty as a contrast for comparative study. The second category deals with water rights trading at the group level as shown in the case an industrial firm buying agricultural water rights in the Yellow River basin. The third category is about water rights trading at the local government level, with the Dongyang-Yiwu long-term water rights transfer and a short-term water rights transfer, in the upper reaches of the Zhanghe River. The fourth category covers what is known as water bank that is regulated and controlled by superordinates, which is still in the process of planning in the Yellow River basin. The fifth category is the initial water rights allocation by the market within the plan of South-to-North water diversion project. The first four cases are the emphasis of the study in this chapter, as they are all rights trading among decision-making entities at the same level. The chapter winds up with a summary of the cases.