XINING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Japan has embarked on the post-project evaluation of a series of loans targeting ecological conservation in northwest China's Qinghai Province, the provincial forestry and grassland administration said Wednesday.

The program, launched in 2009 and completed in 2017 to protect Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland salt lake, was the first time that the province used foreign government loans for environmental preservation.

It was intended to restore vegetation and maintain a healthy and stable ecosystem in the lake region by afforestation, restoration of deteriorated grasslands, monitoring and other methods, said Gao Jingyu, deputy head of the administration.

Total investment amounted to 520 million yuan (about 74.3 million U.S. dollars), of which 400 million yuan was drawn from yen loans, said Gao.

Evaluators from the International Development Center of Japan will conduct their reviews through meetings with officials, symposium talks and site visits.

Home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers, Qinghai is known as "Asia's water tower" and an important ecological shelter zone in western China.