Vice-Minister of Water Resources Zhang Jiyao told a ceremony celebrating the completion of work to reinforce dykes on the Yangtze River that the central government "attaches great importance" to the project.

The local government in Jiujiang has spent four years completing construction work to reinforce dykes in the Jiujiang section of the Yangtze River in East China's Jiangxi Province.

Zhang added that "after 1998, the government increased its investment in flood-prevention projects.

"Reinforcement construction has made great achievements since 1998, especially on the Jiujiang section of the Yangtze River," said Zhang.

China is a country prone to flooding. Since the big flood of 1998, China has invested nearly 30 billion yuan (US$3.61 billion) in strengthening the Yangtze's dykes.

"We employed many new technologies, materials and techniques in the construction with high standards and lower costs to ensure the high quality," said Li Shiren, the general engineer from the General Construction Command Department.

"Though the project is completed, we still need to continue to maintain the dykes," Li said.

The project will also bring great economic and ecological benefits to vast areas along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The 121-kilometre-long major levees in Jiujiang now present a new appearance to the world. The Yangtze River, which runs along one side of the dykes, is in great harmony with the green grass and trees on the other side.

"After the reinforcement construction, we don't need to worry about the floods any longer," said Cheng Renyu, a retired local worker in Jiujiang, whose family live 60 meters away from the dykes.

In the wake of the 1998 disaster, the central government ordered a massive program of anti-flood reinforcements along the Yangtze River. The reinforcement of the Jiujiang dykes is the first one completed.

(China Daily December 31, 2002)