Rise in new water projects underway this year

More new water management projects with even greater investments have been proposed so far this year, as China strives to boost economic recovery through infrastructure, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

To date, 17,600 water management projects are under construction across the country, 3,707 more than during the same period last year, Vice-minister of Water Resources, Wang Daoxi, told ?a news conference on Wednesday.

Planned investment in the projects is worth almost 721 billion yuan ($100 billion), an increase of 111.3 billion yuan year-on-year, Wang added.?

He said that planned investment for 1,095 of the projects exceeds 100 million yuan.

The ministry has also managed to secure more funds for water resource development, the vice-minister said, adding that water authorities across the country have raised 783.2 billion yuan for the construction of new management projects, an increase of 4.7 percent year-on-year.?

Wang emphasized the significant role the new projects are playing in terms of employment.

During the first half this year, almost 1.4 million new construction jobs were created, the vast majority of them going to rural workers, he said.?

Some 21.3 billion yuan in salaries have been paid, almost 70 percent of which went to rural workers.