Aerial photo taken on Aug. 25, 2020 shows the fields of a crab cultivation base at Madeng Town of Xichuan County in Nanyang, central China's Henan Province. As part of the water source of the middle route of China's south-to-north water diversion project, Xichuan County has made much progress in both ecological protection and poverty alleviation.Photo:Xinhua

China on Friday unveiled a centrally-administered state-owned company with a registered capital of 150 billion yuan ($22.49 billion) for its south-to-north water diversion project.

The project will be managed by the Ministry of Water Resources for the State Council, the country's cabinet, by the end of 2020, after which time it will be under the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Friday.

Beginning in 2013, the project transfers water from the Yangtze River to "quench the thirst" of dry areas in the north through eastern, middle and western routes. About 15 percent of land across China has benefited from the project in the last several years.

During the last several years, the project's remarkable middle route has diverted more than 25 billion cubic meters of water, benefitting more than 58 million people, said Xinhua.

After a series of mergers and acquisitions, the number of centrally-administered state-owned companies in China dropped to 96 in January 2020; however, this new establishment brings the total number to 97.

Centrally-administered state-owned enterprises play an important role in Chinese economy amid the COVID-19 outbreak by leading business and production resumption. Their revenues grew by 1.5 percent to 7.8 trillion yuan in the third quarter.