Policy Analysis of Agricultural Water Fee Collection in China

Abstract

The low collection rate of agricultural irrigation water fee is a common problem facing many developing countries, which has also troubled China since the 2000s. In different areas of China, there are two problem-solving strategies: raising water collection rate or exempting water fee. In this paper, we analyze the dilemma of China's agricultural water fee collection from both practical and theoretical perspective. We argue that China will not follow up one single model in agricultural water fee collection and each local government should explore appropriate policy in line with their own situation.