The State Administration of Post issued a stamp Friday to commemorate the south-to-north water diversion project which diverts water from the Yangtze River to the northern drought-ridden area.

Ceremonies were held both in Danjiangkou city of central China's Hubei Province, the source of the middle line water diversion project, and Xichuan county of central China's Henan Province, the start point of the project.

The south-to-north water diversion project includes three lines, namely, the eastern, middle and western. Construction of the eastern line of the project started last year and the middle line is expected to start at the end of this year.

A total of 8.4 million stamps were issued, the lowest print runin 15 years, according to Fan Yuncao, director in charge of stamp issuing under the administration.

The stamp, designed by well-known designer Chen Nan, features "shui" ("water" in Chinese) on the background of a map of China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2003)