Chinese workers have been operating at full-force to complete reinforcement of 54 sections of embankments along the Yangtze River in the run-up to the summer flood season.

The work stretches between Jingzhou city of central China's Hubei Province and Ma'anshan of east China's Anhui Province. The total cost of the projects is 1.1 billion yuan, according to the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee, which is based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei.

Last summer's floods hit a majority of Chinese provinces and regions, leaving 725 people dead and causing 66.8 billion yuan (8.05 billion U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses.

In a move to minimize flood losses, the Chinese government pledged last year to direct 10 billion yuan in support to bolster major embankments along the Yangtze.

The Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee aims to complete the entire reinforcement project in four to five years.