China plans to invest more than 64 billion yuan (10.13 billion U.S. dollars) in the South-to-North Water Diversion Project this year, a senior official said Wednesday.

China invested 57.8 billion yuan in the project in 2011, bringing the total investment so far to 137.6 billion yuan, said E Jingping, director of the Office of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Commission (SNWDPC) of the State Council, at a work conference.

Consisting of an eastern, middle and western route, the project is designed to divert water from water-rich south China to the country's arid northern regions.

The project started with the construction of the eastern route in 2002 and the middle route in 2003.

The first-stage projects on the eastern route will begin to transfer water in 2013, while that on the middle route is expected to transfer water in 2014, according to the plan.

To make way for the massive project, China has relocated 330,000 people who lived in close proximity to the Danjiangkou Reservoir, the source of the middle route. The remaining 1,500 people will be resettled in 2012, E Jingping said.

China has attached great importance to improve its underdeveloped water conservancy system. It has pledged to invest 400 billion yuan on water conservation projects annually over the next ten years.