China water ministry targets 40 major projects, 1 trillion yuan investment this year
In short
China's Ministry of Water Resources said it will increase efforts to start 40 major water conservancy projects and complete 1 trillion yuan of water infrastructure investment in 2026. From January to September, 41,400 water projects of various kinds were under way and 28 major projects broke ground, more than in all of last year, with 795 billion yuan of investment completed. Li Ming, head of the ministry's planning department, said the ministry would push project preparation, raise funds through multiple channels and speed up construction.
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China's Ministry of Water Resources said it will step up work to ensure it starts 40 major water conservancy projects and completes 1 trillion yuan of water infrastructure investment in 2026, according to the ministry. The targets were reported by business outlets CLS, Yicai and Jiemian and by the official China News Service and Xinhua, all citing the same release. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
For January to September, the ministry reported 41,400 water projects of various kinds under way nationwide, 28 major projects newly started — more than the total started in all of last year — and 795 billion yuan of completed water infrastructure investment, which it described as remaining at a high level. Water project construction absorbed 2.01 million workers over the period, according to the same figures. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Li Ming, director of the ministry's planning department, said the ministry would advance project preparation work, raise construction funds through multiple channels and accelerate construction progress, in order to keep the scale of water investment relatively high. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
The documents do not name the projects involved, give locations or investment amounts for them, or set out where the funding needed to reach the 1 trillion yuan target will come from. None of the reports states whether the full-year targets are expected to be met. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
Why it matters
The figures show water infrastructure remains a major channel of state-led investment and a source of construction employment, with 2.01 million jobs reported in the sector in the first nine months. Meeting the full-year 1 trillion yuan target would require the pace of spending to continue through the fourth quarter.
Key facts
- The Ministry of Water Resources aims to start 40 major water conservancy projects in 2026 and complete 1 trillion yuan of water infrastructure investment. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- From January to September, 41,400 water projects of various kinds were implemented nationwide. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Twenty-eight major water projects broke ground in the first nine months, more than the total started in all of last year. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Water infrastructure investment completed in January-September was 795 billion yuan, which the ministry said remained at a high level. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Water project construction employed 2.01 million people in the first nine months. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Li Ming, director of the ministry's planning department, said measures would include advancing project preparation, raising construction funds through multiple channels and accelerating construction. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Li Ming said the ministry would keep the scale of water investment relatively high. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The full-year targets are 40 newly started major water conservancy projects and 1 trillion yuan of completed water infrastructure investment. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- In January-September, 41,400 water projects were implemented and 28 major projects started, exceeding last year's full-year number of starts. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Completed water infrastructure investment in the first nine months was 795 billion yuan. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Water project construction absorbed 2.01 million workers. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Li Ming, director of the planning department, said the ministry would continue a relatively high scale of water investment. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- How the remaining investment will be financed to reach the 1 trillion yuan target. The documents say only that funds will be raised through multiple channels, without naming sources or amounts.
- Whether the full-year targets will be met. The ministry states the targets as a goal to be ensured, and no document gives a completion forecast.
- Specific project names, locations or individual investment amounts. No document lists any of the 28 projects started or the 40 planned.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- CLS publishes the ministry's targets and January-September figures. [ 1 ]
- Yicai republishes the release, citing Xinhua. [ 2 ]
- China News Service carries the release from Beijing with reporter Wei Hongyi. [ 3 ]
- Jiemian publishes the release, citing Xinhua. [ 4 ]
- Xinhua's feed carries the same headline. [ 5 ]