A water facility diverting water from Yellow River in Taiyua, North China's Shanxi Province began to spring a leak on Tuesday. Photo: VCG

China’s investment into water infrastructure through a mix of bank loans, and social capital this year has reached 238.8 billion yuan ($34.3billion), hitting a record high, the Ministry of Water Resources told a press conference addressing the country’s progress regarding water infrastructure over the past 10 years.

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, officials said at the press conference, 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 undergoing nationwide, Chinese officials said.

In terms of investment and funding, from January to August this year, a total of 977.6 billion yuan was invested on water saving infrastructure projects, up 50.9 percent year-on-year, official data showed.

In particular, major breakthroughs were made in the reform of water conservation investment system and management. Since the beginning of this year, the volume of bank loans and non-governmental capital invested in water conservation projects has reached 238.8 billion yuan, setting a new record high.

The construction of water facilities plays a vital role in creating jobs, particularly in rural areas, the officials said.

From January to August, the construction of water conservation projects employed a total of 1.91 million workers, including 1.53 million rural laborers.

In addition, the water facilities have played a vital role in flood control and drought relief, improving China’s capacity to deal with natural disasters, the officials said. 

Over the past decade, the average yearly loss caused by flooding and related disasters has decreased from 0.57 percent of the GDP to 0.31 percent, compared with the previous decade.

In terms of easing drought, the water projects have supplied 3.57 billion cubic meters of water to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River valley which has continued to suffer from high temperatures since July, playing a vital role in ensuring drinking water and irrigation water.

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.
Global Times