Mother Cellar initiative celebrates 15th birthday

Thousands of clean-water projects launched, with plans to expand overseas

A national charity program called Mother Cellar is celebrating, after spending 900 million yuan ($137 million) on improving water and sanitation in some of western China's most remote areas.

Toasting its 15th anniversary at a conference held in Beijing last month, officials said it had helped build 139,400 rainwater collection cellars, for instance, and 1,700 centralized water supply projects in 25 provinces and autonomous regions.