(Yicai) March 1 -- China has started 1,488 national debt-funded water conservancy projects with investment of CNY29.3 billion (USD4.1 billion), and the projects are going smoothly, said Chen Min, vice minister for water resources.

The central government decided last October to issue CNY1 trillion (USD139 billion) in additional sovereign debt in the form of special national bonds to fund post-disaster reconstruction and improve disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities, particularly in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban area and other regions in North China.

The Ministry of Water Resources has also been promoting the improvement of flood control capabilities and river basin flood control engineering systems, Chen said at a press conference today.

The sale of the additional sovereign debt is focused on funding water conservancy for disaster prevention and relief and it provides the biggest financial support seen in this area in recent years, said Yuan Da, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

There are three key factors in the new funding, Yuan said. First, it will go toward 12 types of projects aimed at flood control, drainage and disaster reduction, such as reservoirs, rivers, embankments, flood storage and detention basins. 

Second, it represents solid financial support from the central government to reduce the pressure on local governments to raise money, Yuan said. Third, the focus this time is in the field of water conservancy, which will get more than half of the funds raised.

Editors: Shi Yi, Tom Litting