China's economic powerhouse will spend 50 billion yuan (US$6.05 billion) over five years to reposition itself as a world-class river city with clean and safe water resources.

The ambitious project to create a "ring of water" around the city will include the Huangpu River, Dianpu River (the connection between the Huangpu River and Dianshan Lake), Dianshan Lake and a new water course which will join with Suzhou Creek.

Tributaries that feed into the network will also be included.

"Our job will focus on protecting the aquatic environment and developing water tourism resources. The upcoming World Expo in Shanghai and the growing demand for a better quality of life provide us with a golden opportunity to develop this vision," said Zhang Jiayi, director of Shanghai Water Authority.

He said it may not be long before people were seen boating or yachting along scenic waterways as a result of the clean-up.

The city also plans to add five more lakes with a total area of 10-15 square km to the existing Dianshan Lake.

The 5-square-kilometre Luchao Lake is under construction at Harbor City, which will serve as the industrial storage and support base for Yangshan Port.

Of the other lakes planned, one near Wuhaogou in Pudong will cover about 2 square km and another will extend for a similar area at Chongming Island.

A third lake, about 1 square km in area, will be created in Jinshan County, while a fourth will lie between Jiading and Baoshan districts.

Zhang said investors' growing interest in water-based industries would give extra impetus to the city's ambition of forging a water metropolis. By 2007, water 'towns' at the Yangtze Delta will be largely restored.

To attract the required investment, the new water network will be tied to real estate development and other projects, Zhang added.

The authority has recently presented the plan to develop the scenic potential of the waterways to the municipal government for verification and approval.

With many rivers and waterways, Shanghai has over 900 billion cubic meters of water resources, equal to that of the Yellow River.

But they need rehabilitation, prompting the authorities to consolidate their water resources for environmental protection and entertainment purposes.

(China Daily March 4, 2003)