More funds for water conservancy announced

China aims to invest at least 800 billion yuan ($126 billion) in developing water conservancy projects this year, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

To get more government investment, water resource authorities should ramp up communication with local development and reform commissions and finance departments, it said in a recent media release.

They should do all they can to increase the use of local government bonds. Efforts should also be made to get more loans from banks and attract more private investment.

The ministry also urged local water resource authorities to explore other means of securing funds.

In collaboration with other government bodies and financial institutions, the ministry will consider guidelines for two pilot programs to enlarge investment.

One will be on ways to tap the potential of financial instruments in supporting water conservancy project development. The other one will be on promoting real estate investment trusts in the sector.

According to the ministry, a total investment of 802.8 billion yuan was made in water conservancy projects in China in 2021, up by 4.2 percent on the previous year.