The eastern section of China's massive water diversion project from south to north will be completed by 2007, one year earlier than scheduled.

Geng Fuming, chief engineer of the project's Shandong Province headquarters, said construction of the Jiping aqueduct had progressed well since its launch at the end of last year.

Analysts said the fast and smooth development of the project in Shandong would help allay water shortages in this province and north China.

The timetable for the 59 billion-US-dollar project is to link Shandong with the Yangtze River, China's largest waterway, by 2008. 　　

The whole project covers three routes. The first two will be up to 1,800 kilometers in length and link Beijing and other northern industrial cities with the Yangtze.

A third, to be finished by 2050, will cut through the high mountains near Tibet to link the Yangtze with the headwaters of the Yellow River, which chronically dries up with overuse.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2003)