The sea water desalination plant on Yongxing island

A series of changes have taken place in the city of Sansha since the city was officially established in July 2012. The changes are all intended to make local residents' lives easier, according to the first plenary session of the CPC Sansha Committee.

A total of nine seawater desalination plants have been built in Sansha. The plant on Yongxing Island has the capacity to desalinate 1,000 tons of sea water per day. Water pipelines cover the entire island. These plants increase the capacity of sea water desalination on the Xisha islands and reefs to 500,000 tons per year. The island is also working hard to transport fresh water from Hainan Island; a total of 45,000 tons of fresh water have so far been brought to Yongxing Island.

In addition, other facilities including supermarkets, restaurants and beauty salons have begun operation on the island. The construction of a school has finished, and 29 students have enrolled.

"Life on Yongxing Island is very convenient now. There is sufficient electricity and water, as well as other supplies," said Feng Jiansheng, a worker at Sansha Information Center. He added that he plans to have his son attend the Yongxing school.

Sansha, the smallest prefecture-level city by both population and land area in China, has jurisdiction over more than 2 million square kilometers, most of which is water. The city government is seated on Yongxing Island.