China central bank stresses financing water conservancy projects

BEIJING -- China's central bank on Monday asked financial institutions to increase financing for the country's water conservancy projects.

Policy and development banks should make good use of the newly-granted 800 billion yuan ($119 billion) credit line and increase support for major national water conservancy projects, said the People's Bank of China.

Commercial banks should scale up loans for sustainable water conservancy projects, while the small and medium-sized banks should give the necessary financial support to local farmland irrigation and water conservancy projects, according to the bank.

Financial institutions should cooperate with water resource authorities and enterprises and expand effective investment in the construction of water conservancy infrastructure to bolster economic growth, the bank said.

China's investment in new water conservancy projects totaled 414.4 billion yuan in the first five months of the year, and the country is expected to complete investments worth more than 800 billion yuan in water conservancy construction in 2022, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

From January to May, the country initiated 10,644 new water conservancy projects, including 609 projects with an investment of more than 100 million yuan each, said the ministry.