Workers put new pipes in a ditch in Lanzhou, Gansu province, in April. The city is updating its obsolete water pipes to protect the water supply. [Photo/XINHUA]

China will survey its underground pipelines in the coming year, authorities announced on Sunday.

The survey is scheduled to be finished by late July of next year, and cities must update their information systems accordingly by the end of 2015, said a notice from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD).

The move aims to improve China's management of underground pipelines, said Chen Dawei, Vice Minister of MOHURD.

China has at least 20 kinds of pipelines underground. They are used for water supply, drainage, natural gas supply, heat supply, electricity, communications and industrial production. Oil pipelines are not included in the survey.

The notice was jointly mapped by five departments, including MOHURD, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration of Work Safety, the National Energy Administration and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.