China's Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng has said that over the past five years the country had issued state treasury bonds worth about 660 billion yuan, using nearly one-fifth of those, worth 125.8 billion, for water works.
Wang said at an on-going national water conservation meeting Sunday that since 1998 when the Yangtze River, China's longest, suffered a disastrous flood, the central government had earmarked about 178.6 billion yuan for hydraulic construction, 2.36 times that of the total hydraulic investment between 1949 to 1997.
During the past five years, the massive investment was mainly used on building embankments, upgrading old dams, improving agricultural irrigation systems and making drinkable water available to more people.
(Xinhua News Agency January 7, 2003)
