Construction starts on water diversion project

Construction work started on a water extension project on Thursday in Linqing, Shandong province, reflecting central government efforts to deal with the excessive exploitation of underground water in North China.

The water replenishment project - part of the eastern route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project - is expected to take 21 months to complete.

It will be able to transfer 490 million cubic meters of water to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.