China Water Rights Exchange has brokered 15 water rights transfer deals with a total water volume of 876 million cubic meters since the company was established late in June last year, said a water resources official.

The market is given full play in the deals. Some of the deals were done by open bidding and some were through trade agreements, said Chen Mingzhong, head of the water resources department at the Ministry of Water Resources in a news briefing Friday.

He said China launched pilot projects aiming to establish a national water rights system in seven provincial regions including Jiangxi, Hubei and Henan provinces in 2014. These regions have made breakthroughs in building up proper mechanisms for water rights confirmation and exchanges, which could be instructive for other regions.

In 2016, a total of more than 600 billion metric tons of water was consumed in all 34 provincial regions excluding Taiwan province, Hong Kong and Macao. Water consumption for every 10,000 yuan ($1,500) worth of industrial value added decreased in 2016 by 7.6 percent compared to 2015, he said.

China Water Rights Exchange was a national water rights trading platform jointly launched by the Ministry of Water Resources and the Beijing municipal government.

The aim of launching the platform is to balance water resources and usage nationwide as well as enhance the conservation efforts. It enables the trading of rights to use water between users, and provides consultation, technical evaluation and intermediary services.