Feverish funding effort fuels water conservancy projects

China has seen an unprecedented number of water conservancy projects launched in the first half of this year as the Ministry of Water Resources looks to tap the potential of such projects to facilitate booming growth, Vice-Minister Wei Shanzhong said.

Over the past six months, 14,000 projects commenced construction across the country with a total planned investment of 609.5 billion yuan ($90.8 billion), he told a news conference on Monday.

The ministry has strongly endeavored to raise funding for water conservancy development, he said. Aside from increasing government investment, it has striven to encourage public-private partnerships and establish pilot real estate investment trusts.

Thanks to the ministry's efforts, 748 billion yuan was raised for water conservancy development from January to June, up 49.5 percent year-on-year, Wei noted.

Of the money raised, 444.9 billion yuan has been invested, 59.5 percent more than during the same period last year, he said.

"The funds that have been raised and the investment made both hit record highs," he said.