Six years of construction will follow powerful explosion of hilly rocks which launched the project in deep mountains yesterday.

By 2005, a 130-metre-high dam capable of holding 5.6 billion cubic metres of water and controlling 1.6 billion cubic metres of flood water is expected to be erected, according to senior flood-control experts.

Such a huge reservoir behind the dam could protect Nanning, capital of Guangxi, from devastating floods which occur on average once every 50 years, the experts said.

The construction will also protect more than 1.8 million people and some 72,666 hectares of farmlands.

Devastating deluges on the Xijiang River and its tributary the Yujiang River have plagued Guangxi for years.

The damage done this summer was particularly severe due to the lack of key water-control works.

As one of key infrastructure projects in China's development of the western regions, the project is vital to the growth of the impoverished Guangxi and neighbouring Yunnan Province, according to Zhang Jiyao, vice-minister of water resources.

Li Zhaozhuo, governor of Guangxi, added that "upon its completion, the project would ensure a sustainable development of economy for Guangxi and Yunnan, along with tens of thousands of local residents who live in poor areas along both banks of the flood-prone Yujiang River."

The central and local governments will invest 2 billion yuan (US$240 million) in the project. Loans provided by the China Development Bank will cover the remaining cost of the 4.7 billion-yuan (US$566 million) project.

Situated on the Yujiang River, in Baise, northwest of Guangxi's capital, the construction of the project is one of the 118 key projects scheduled to be launched in Guangxi between 2001-05, a leading local official said.

The project is also designed to be a large multiple-function water conservation facility, capable of increasing power generation, offering irrigation, navigation and water supply potentials. It is designed to have a total installed capacity of 540,000 kilowatts.

Upon completion in 2006, the project's hydropower station will supply enough electricity to improve irrigation in more than 38,930 hectares of farmland along the river.

Spadework of the project was initiated in 1997.

So far, 300 million yuan (US$36 million) has been spent on construction preparations, including infrastructure for transportation and supply of materials, relocation of residents from the reservoir area and acquisition of land.

More than 27,000 locals will be relocated to make way for the construction of the project.

(China Daily 10/12/2001)