Hong Kong China Review News Agency:

Accelerating the construction of water conservancy infrastructure is highly relevant to the overall strategic situation and people's well-being. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has successively carried out 172 major water-saving and water supply projects and 150 major water conservancy projects. Since the beginning of this year, the MWR has further intensified efforts to promote water conservancy infrastructure construction. Over the last decade, what role has the water conservancy infrastructure system played in promoting the high-quality development of China's economy and society? Thank you.

Zhang Xiangwei:

Thank you for your question. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great significance to the construction of water conservancy infrastructure. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have implemented 172 major water-saving and water supply projects and 150 major water conservancy projects. Over the last decade, China's investment in water conservancy projects has reached 6.66 trillion yuan, five times that of the previous decade. During this period, a number of key flood control projects were carried out, such as the construction of major flood storage and detention areas along the Yangtze River, flood control in the downstream of the Yellow River, and the Datengxia water conservancy project on the Xijiang River. A set of large-scale projects were also carried out to harness small and medium-sized rivers and reinforce dilapidated reservoirs. Storage capacity was increased by 105.1 billion cubic meters, and 56,500 kilometers of levees of grade 5 or higher were added. A system of river basin flood control projects mainly consisting of river channels, levees, reservoirs, and flood storage and detention areas has been basically formed for major rivers, playing an important role in ensuring the safety of people's lives and property and major infrastructures. Over the past decade, we have completed 54 cross-basin and cross-regional water diversion projects, such as the first phase of the Middle East Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the diversion of water from the Yangtze River to the Huaihe River, the Han River to the Wei River, and the allocation of water resources in the Pearl River Delta, increasing the designed annual water diversion volume to 64.79 billion cubic meters. The overall deployment capacity of water resources has been significantly improved in China.

Since the beginning of this year, we have thoroughly implemented the guiding principle of the important speech delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the 11th meeting of the Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, and earnestly carried out a series of measures made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to stabilize economy. We have accelerated construction of water conservancy projects, and achieved remarkable results in project construction, investment, and job creation. 

First, compared with the same period of past years, the number of projects started this year hit a record high. Since the beginning of this year, a record 19,000 new water projects have been started nationwide. In particular, a number of major projects of strategic significance, such as the second phase of the Huaihe Waterway to the Sea, the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to replenish the Han River, and the allocation of water resources in Guangdong around the Beibu Gulf, have started construction smoothly. All of the above are major water infrastructure projects that had been needed for many years but had not been undertaken until this year.

Second, the scale of investment was larger than at any time in history. While increasing government investment, local governments have issued special bonds and gathered financial support and private capital to raise funds for water conservancy projects through multiple channels. From January to August, China invested 977.6 billion yuan in water conservancy projects, up 50.9% year on year. The national investment in water conservancy projects exceeded 700 billion yuan, reaching 703.6 billion yuan, up 63.9% year on year.

Third, a larger number of jobs have been created. We have given full play to the advantages of water conservancy projects with wide areas, long industrial chains, and more job opportunities, especially in terms of providing jobs for rural labor forces. From January to August, the water conservancy projects have delivered jobs to a total of 1.91 million people, including 1.53 million rural workers.

The construction of large-scale water conservancy infrastructure has played an important role in stabilizing growth and employment, and promoting high-quality development of the economy and society. Thank you.