China’s investment in water conservancy projects this year hit a new record high – ministry

 

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China’s investment in water conservancy projects through a mix of bank loans, and social capital this year has reached 238.8 billion yuan ($34.3billion), marking a record high, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

China is accelerating the construction of water infrastructure this year and has made remarkable progress in regard to the number of new project starts, attracted investment and newly created jobs, the ministry said, adding that water infrastructure construction has played an important role in stabilizing economic growth and employment.

So far this year, 19,000 new water conservancy projects are in construction nationwide, the officials said.

In the first eight months of the year, a total of 977.6 billion yuan was invested in water conservancy projects, surging 50.9% from a year earlier, official data showed.

A total of 1.91 million workers were employed for construction of the water conservation projects, including 1.53 million rural workers, the ministry said.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012, 150 major water conservancy projects have been completed. Over the past decade, China’s investment in water conservancy projects reached 6.6 trillion yuan, up five times that of the previous decade, the officials said.