The day before yesterday, I wrote an article 
Location map of Xiamen and Kinmen, big and small.
The decision-making and negotiation process of mainland China’s supply of water to Kinmen.
Kinmen has been plagued by water shortages for a long time. The main reasons for water shortage are: first, the has a low latitude, high temperature, and large evaporation; second, the island is small and has little space to store water; third, the island terrain is mainly mountainous and hilly, with short rivers, fast flow, and limited water storage. The time is short; fourth, with the development of Kinmen’s economy and the improvement of living standards, water consumption continues to increase.
Kinmen belongs to the subtropical zone, with warm weather, little rain, and extremely scarce water resources. Kinmen’s per capita water resources are only 1,000 cubic meters, far below the internationally recognized per capita water resource warning line. In 1993, Kinmen suffered a severe drought. People in Kinmen hoped to divert water from Fujian, which attracted great attention from the Fujian Provincial Committee and the provincial government.
On March 22, 1995, at the conference to commemorate the "World Water Day" and "China Water Week", Fujian announced that it would help solve the water problem of Kinmen people as soon as possible. On May 6, 2002, the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government conducted a special study on water supply to the Jinma area and formulated the policy of "priority water supply, high-quality water supply, high-price water supply, and water supply in accordance with the law."
Mainland China’s top management attaches great importance to this work and has issued important instructions on water supply work guidelines, water supply principles, and policy requirements. "The operation of water supply from the mainland to Kinmen involves major issues in cross-strait relations"; "Water supply to , Kinmen and will enhance the feelings and centripetal force of the people of Kinmen and Matsu towards the motherland, and make cross-strait relations closer", and determined that "there is no rush" The water supply principles of "not being impatient and handling it in a low-key manner" and "seizing the opportunity and making breakthroughs one by one".
From the launch of Kinmen water supply work in 1995 to 2013, it has gone through four stages of negotiation: "communication, consensus formation, technological deepening, and effective advancement" and has achieved a number of results.
Since the 9th high-level meeting of the cross-strait two sessions reached a consensus on actively promoting Kinmen’s water diversion from the mainland on June 21, 2013, the two sides have gone through 8 technical discussions and 3 work discussions to reach an agreement covering water supply sources, water quantity, water quality standards, and cooperation. methods, water purchase contracts, water supply deadlines, etc. After 20 years of unremitting efforts, both parties finally reached a successful conclusion.
On July 20, 2015, Fujian Water Supply Co., Ltd. and Kinmen County Waterworks signed the "Kinmen Water Supply and Purchase Contract for Water Diversion from the Mainland". The contract is signed for 30 years, with a total cost of 1.35 billion yuan, of which 85% is subsidized by the Taiwan authorities and 15% is paid by the local government.
The quantity of water supply determined in the contract is progressive. Kinmen County Water Plant purchases 15,000 tons of water per day from the mainland in the first three years, 20,000 tons per day in the fourth to sixth years, and 2.5 tons per day in the seventh to ninth years. 10,000 tons, and 34,000 tons per day after the 10th year.
Fujian Water Supply to Kinmen/Internet Picture
Mainland China’s Implementation Process of Water Supply to Kinmen
From May 14 to 18, 2014, the Water Resources Planning Institute of the Ministry of Water Resources held a review meeting for the "Kinmen Water Supply Project Proposal".
In December 2014, the National Development and Reform Commission approved the "Kinmen Water Supply Project Proposal".
On October 12, 2015, the mainland section of the water supply project took the lead in starting construction.
In August 2018, Fujian officially supplied water to Kinmen. The water source for the water supply comes from the Jinjiang River Basin in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province. Water is diverted from Jinjiang Jinji Barrage to Longhu Reservoir in Jinjiang City, and then transported through Longhu Pumping Station to the point where it enters the sea at Weitou, and then transported to Kinmen through submarine pipelines.
This water supply project consists of three parts: Jinjiang Longhu water pumping station, land water pipeline and cross-sea water pipeline. The total length of the line is about 28 kilometers. After the project is connected to water, it can provide Kinmen with 34,000 cubic meters of high-quality water every day, and the capacity can be expanded to 55,000 cubic meters in the future.
The land section pipeline is 11.68km long, and the offshore section pipeline is 16.052km long. The total project investment is 388 million yuan. Among them, part of the Longhu water pumping station and land pipeline projects are invested by mainland China (an investment of 129 million yuan), and the cross-sea water pipeline is invested by Kinmen.
The water pipeline used in the water supply project from mainland China to Kinmen
The construction of this project has fundamentally solved the water shortage problem that has long plagued Kinmen.According to data provided by Fujian Jinjin Water Supply Co., Ltd., the actual water supply from Fujian to Kinmen in the first quarter of 2021 reached 1.5411 million tons, with an average daily water supply of 17,100 tons. As of March 31 this year, Fujian had supplied a total of 12.2433 million tons of water to Kinmen.
Kinmen County Mayor Yang Zhenwu said in a Facebook post on November 16 last year that the water situation was tight. Thanks to the support of the mainland's water supply, water for people's livelihood was being supplied normally, so that every household in the area would not be short of water. On March 22 this year, Yang Zhenwu once again said in a post that over the past year or so, Kinmen has suffered the worst drought in 50 years, causing heavy agricultural losses. As for the water supply for people's livelihood, we are working hard to maintain normal water supply because of the supplement of land water, and we have not implemented water restriction measures so far.
Taiwanese media also admitted that last year Kinmen “relyed on mainland water supply.” "Kinmen was originally more water-scarce than the island (Taiwan). Later, water was diverted from the mainland, which can well meet Kinmen's needs."
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, introduced on March 31 that since August 5, 2018 As of March 28, 2021, Fujian currently supplies a total of 12.1912 million tons of continuous, stable, and high-quality water supply to Kinmen. Since New Year's Day this year, in response to the ongoing drought on the island and in the Kinmen area, and in response to the Kinmen Water Plant's request to increase water supply in the spring, Fujian's average daily water supply to Kinmen has been increased from 14,000 tons to 17,100 tons, with a total water supply of 1.489 million tons. "Kinmen folks will no longer have to worry about water difficulties."
Laying of submarine pipelines to the Kinmen water supply project
Waterways, emotions, blood connections
The submarine water supply pipeline is invested, constructed and operated by Kinmen, and it is clear that it cannot be built by the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. When third parties outside the country participate in the construction and operation and management of submarine pipelines, mainland enterprises (manufacturers) must be entrusted (subcontracted) to undertake the survey and survey of sea areas and tidal flats near the mainland Jinjiang River, pipeline design, construction, inspection and maintenance, etc. This solves the problem of our investment and construction of submarine water supply pipelines being restricted by Taiwan's "regulations". It is a major breakthrough in the investment and construction model of cross-strait projects and has been recognized by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. The investment and financing model for
project construction is "70% central fund subsidy, 20% enterprise capital, and 10% bank loan". Taking into account that two-thirds of the investment in the project will be borne by Kinmen and the principle of high-priced water supply, the owners on both sides of the Taiwan Strait finally reached an agreement that Kinmen would divert water from the mainland offshore and the original water price was NT$9.86 per cubic meter (equivalent to RMB based on the current exchange rate 2.004 yuan), which basically meets the original bottom line requirements of both parties.
The water price mentioned here is NT$9.86 per cubic meter (approximately NT$2.3). It is the mainland offshore raw water price paid by Kinmen Waterworks to Fujian Water Supply Co., Ltd., not the tap water price used by Kinmen residents. Yesterday, many readers lamented that this water price is cheaper than our local tap water price. In fact, this is not the case. This untreated raw water needs to go through a complete set of treatment processes after it reaches the Kinmen County Water Plant. Then the Kinmen Water Plant will charge residents corresponding fees based on their actual water consumption based on tiered prices.
Jinjiang Longhu water intake
Mainland China supplies water to Kinmen, which has improved the water situation of Kinmen people to a great extent. The local water quality in Kinmen is very poor. The local people use water in two parts. One part is tap water at home. It is not drinkable and is only used for daily cleaning. Drinking water must be obtained from some special water points. Many elderly people The old man held a bucket and staggered to fetch water. It's so hard, they said, they've gotten used to it over the years. The three words "get used to it" reflect the helplessness and sadness in the hearts of Kinmen people.
Now the mainland and Kinmen have achieved water connection, forming a very good demonstration effect. The local people have high expectations for the issues of electricity, ventilation and bridges in the future. If it can be realized, the Kinmen-Matsu area and the mainland will be more closely connected in the future, and it will have a more positive role in promoting cross-strait cooperation.
In terms of electricity, in January 2019, State Grid Fujian Company completed the demonstration and capacity preparation of the power supply plan for Kinmen and Matsu. Once the interconnection project is implemented, power supply will be available.
Gas supply work is also under preparation. The eastern section of the Third West-East Gas Pipeline, which has been put into operation, has reserved ventilation interfaces for Taiwan in Xiamen and Fuqing .
We are also considering the issue of a bridge. The Xiamen-Jinjiang Bridge will connect the hearts of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Whether it is an undersea tunnel or a cross-sea bridge, the mainland has rich experience and is technically mature. On February 24 this year, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "National Comprehensive Three-dimensional Transportation Network Planning Outline". Didn't they also plan the high-speed railway line from Fuzhou to Taipei?
We look forward to that day!
(pictures come from the Internet, if there is any infringement, they will be deleted if contacted)
See the world with a bull’s eye, as the saying goes, the world
