Aerial photo taken on Dec. 9, 2019 shows the Shahe aqueduct of the middle route of China's south-to-north water diversion project in central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua/Feng Dapeng)

 
China's mega water diversion project has transferred nearly 30 billion cubic meters of water in the past five years, official data showed Thursday.

The first phase of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project has directly benefited over 120 million people since it went into operation on Dec. 12, 2014, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

China's per capita water resources is only 28 percent of the world's average and China's water resources are unevenly distributed across the country. Water is abundant in the south while scarce in the north, making the water diversion project a necessary move.