China honors mainland-HK water supply project builders

BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Builders of the Dongjiang-Shenzhen Water Supply Project have been awarded the title "Role Model of the Times" for their efforts to ensure a safe and stable supply of fresh water to Hong Kong over the past five decades.

The title was conferred by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Back in the 1960s, tens of thousands of construction workers from Guangdong Province completed the 83-km-long water supply project under difficult circumstances in just one year, effectively alleviating the problem of water scarcity for residents of Hong Kong.

In over 50 years, more than 30,000 people have worked on the project's construction and maintenance. After being expanded and upgraded four times, the project's supply capacity has been greatly increased and the quality of the water has also been improved, satisfying 80 percent of Hong Kong residents' fresh water needs.

The 562-km Dongjiang River originates in east China's Jiangxi Province and flows to the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong.