Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, June 17, 2002
China Invests Heavily in Flood Control Projects
The Chinese central government has allocated 136.4 billion yuan (16.6 billion U.S. dollars) to flood control projects since the devastating floods in 1998, officials said Monday.
The Chinese central government has allocated 136.4 billion yuan (16.6 billion U.S. dollars) to flood control projects since the devastating floods in 1998, officials said Monday.
Zhang Jirao, Vice-Minister of Water Resources, said the flood control capacity in the country's seven biggest river valleys had improved during the past four years.
The valleys include the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huaihe River, the Songhua River, the Pearl River, the Liaohe River and the Haihe River.
The vice-minister said dykes and embankments covering 30,000 km, and about 180 major reservoirs had been consolidated.
Hunan province, central China, is one of the beneficiaries that are subject to severe flooding along the 6,300 km Yangtze River.
Yang Zhengwu, secretary of Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the central government had injected 10 billion yuan into flood control projects over the past four years.
The huge investment, together with 5.6 billion yuan contributed by the province, had improved their flood control capabilities, said the secretary.
The 142-km Hunan section of the Yangtze River had been consolidated, protecting 90,660 ha of farmland and 1.6 million residents.