A city in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region has started a water environment improvement project with a total cost of over one billion yuan (157 million U.S. dollars), local authorities said Wednesday.

The city of Bayan Nur will put the funds, including 80 million U.S. dollars in loans from the World Bank, toward nine projects focused on enhancing wastewater processing and recycling, distributing the recycled water supply to local industries and maintaining artificial wetlands, among others, said a spokesman with the city government.

The project officially started in late October, and is expected to be completed by 2016, said the spokesman.

The Yellow River, China's second longest waterway, passes through Bayan Nur.

Agricultural use is currently the area's main water consumption force, but the water environment improvement project aims to increase the water supply for industrial purposes, said the spokesman.