On April 14, 2023, the Ministry of Water Resources held a press conference on the progress and effectiveness of water infrastructure construction in the first quarter of 2023. At the meeting, Wang Daoxi, vice minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that since the beginning of 2023, the water conservancy system has been linked up and down to speed up the construction of water conservancy infrastructure in an all-round way. contribution to water conservancy.

Specifically, Wang Daoxi introduced that in the first quarter, 11 major water conservancy projects were newly started, including the Yaojiaping Water Conservancy Project in Hubei, the Fenghuangshan Reservoir in Anhui, the flood control project at the eastern foot of Helan Mountain in Ningxia, the Sanba Reservoir in Sichuan, and the Tengchong Irrigation District in Yunnan. The total investment scale 47.6 billion yuan, 6 more than the same period in 2022, and an increase of 25.2 billion yuan in investment scale.

In the first quarter, China completed an investment of 189.8 billion yuan in water conservancy construction, a year-on-year increase of 76.2%. Among them, 6 provinces including Guangdong, Yunnan, Hebei, Fujian, Zhejiang, and Sichuan have completed investments exceeding 10 billion yuan. The construction of a number of major water conservancy projects such as diversion of the middle route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to replenish the Han River, diversion of water from central Yunnan to Yunnan, and the second phase of the Huaihe River into the sea have been accelerated. The Nianpanshan Water Conservancy Project in Hubei and the Huaqiao Water Conservancy Project in Jiangxi have completed sluice storage. The construction of water conservancy projects employed 700,000 people, including 510,000 rural laborers.

In addition, in the first quarter, China invested 407.1 billion yuan in water conservancy construction, an increase of 54.8 billion yuan or 15.6% year-on-year. Among them, the implementation of local government special bonds, bank loans, and social capital was significantly better than the same period in 2022. In the first quarter, China started 7,239 new water conservancy projects, 1,948 more than the same period in 2022; the new investment scale was 320.6 billion yuan, 56.2 billion yuan more than the same period in 2022.

Wang Daoxi said that 2023 is the first year to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and it is also an important year for the comprehensive construction of a modern socialist country. The Ministry of Water Resources will accelerate the construction of major projects during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, such as the river basin flood control engineering system, the national water network, the recovery of the ecological environment of rivers and lakes, and smart water conservancy.

One is to speed up the construction progress of major projects under construction. Under the premise of ensuring quality and safety, vigorously promote the allocation of water resources in Guangdong around the Beibu Gulf, the diversion of the middle line of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to supplement the Han, the second phase of the Huaihe River into the sea, the Guanyin Reservoir in Guizhou, the Da’ao irrigation area in Jiangxi, and the Huayang River storage and flood detention area. The construction progress of the project will be improved to promote the completion of the project as soon as possible to bring benefits. At the same time, speed up ecological restoration projects such as Mulan River in Fujian and Chagan Lake in Jilin, as well as comprehensive management of water and soil erosion in key areas. In 2023, projects such as the Laluo Water Conservancy Project in Tibet will complete completion acceptance, projects such as diverting Han to Wei in Shaanxi, and water resource allocation in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong will realize water access, and key projects such as the digital twin Three Gorges, Xiaolangdi, and Danjiangkou will be basically completed.

The second is to promote the preliminary work of major projects. Make every effort to do a good job in the preliminary work of 66 major water conservancy projects that will be promoted in 2023, list management, monthly scheduling, and strengthen guidance, and strive to open more and open earlier. In particular, the Ancient Sages of the Yellow River, the second phase of water diversion in central Yunnan, and the Changtang Reservoir in Guangxi are related to the safety of flood control in river basins, as well as the key projects of national and regional water network interconnection, supplementary network, and strong chain. Accelerate feasibility study and approval, and promote early project approval building.

The third is to strengthen the guarantee of project elements. In view of the difficult issues in the handling of land use, forest use, resettlement, environmental impact assessment and other elements involved in major water conservancy projects, actively strengthen communication with development and reform, natural resources, ecological environment, forestry and grassland and other departments, jointly dispatch and discuss, and coordinate and solve item by item. Advance the essentials to expedite processing. At the same time, it is also necessary to guide local governments to implement construction funds through multiple channels to lay the foundation for the smooth start of construction of the project. Editor/He Yuting