Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng made the remarks at an ongoing national water conservation meeting Sunday.

Since 1998 when the Yangtze River, China's longest, suffered a disastrous flood, the central government had earmarked about 178.6 billion yuan for hydraulic construction, 2.36 times that of the total hydraulic investment between 1949 to 1997.

The massive investment was mainly used on building embankments, upgrading old dams, improving agricultural irrigation systems and making drinkable water available to more people.

(Edited by china.org.cn January 7, 2003)