BEIJING -- China has made substantial progress in curbing groundwater overexploitation in recent years, driven by efforts to reduce extraction and enhance replenishment, a government official said on Friday.

The number of provincial-level regions facing groundwater overexploitation has dropped from 21 in 2015 to 18 now, with the volume of overexploitation down by 31.9 percent compared to 2015 levels, Zhang Xiangwei, an official of the Ministry of Water Resources, told a press conference.

The improvement has been particularly striking in northern China, one of the country's most water-scarce regions, where groundwater overexploitation has been reduced by 85.8 percent compared to 2015 levels, according to Zhang.

Data from the ministry show that shallow groundwater levels in parts of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region have risen by 3.19 meters since 2015, while deep groundwater levels have rebounded by an average of 8.46 meters.

To consolidate the progress, Zhang noted that China will adopt a comprehensive approach, including water conservation, industrial restructuring and enhanced replenishment efforts, to ensure the sustained recovery of groundwater levels.