The China Urban Water Blueprint provides a scientific understanding of the current status of urban water sources and the potential for nature-based conservation in China. This report surveyed the source water catchments of the 30 fastest growing, large cities in China and compared and analyzed the effectiveness and economic valuation of nature-based conservation as compared to engineered solutions. Notably, the China Urban Water Blueprint emphasizes the importance of employing market-based mechanisms, such as water funds, to provide the financial and governance mechanisms needed to implement conservation in urban water catchments at the scale necessary for water security.