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The conservation and efficient use of water resources are directly related to the sustainable and high-quality development in China. This paper regards the pilot policy of water-saving society construction as a quasi-natural experiment, and employs a differences-in-differences approach to evaluate the effectiveness of urban water-saving policies and exploit its drive mechanism by using the panel data of 263 cities in China from 2001 to 2016. Findings show that the pilot policy of water-saving society construction can achieve better water-saving effects, which can not only promote the reduction of urban water consumption in intensity and total amount, but also improve the efficiency of water resources utilization. And this policy has brought long-term dynamic effects on the urban water resources conservation. Heterogeneous effects exist in different types of cities, that is, the water-saving performance is more significant in cities with sufficient water resources and in central China. Besides, this paper finds that the impact of this water-saving policy on urban water resource conservation is mainly through two channels such as water resources infrastructure investment and water resources pricing. These findings provide useful inspirations for local governments to take effective economic measures to manage water resources. • Regard the pilot policy of water-saving society construction as a quasi-natural experiment. • Employ a differences-in-differences approach with the panel data of 263 cities in China from 2001 to 2016. • Evaluate the effectiveness of urban water-saving policies and exploit its drive mechanism. • Water-saving society construction can achieve better water-saving effects. • Water infrastructure investment and water pricing are important mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]