China's central government plans to provide 16 million more rural residents with access to safe drinking water by 2004, said Chen Lei, vice minister of Water Resources.

The government's new project will help bring water to residents living mainly in ethnic minority areas, old revolutionary base areas, border areas and destitute areas in the central and western regions of China and help them escape poverty, Tuesday's China Daily quoted Chen as saying at Monday's forum on irrigation agriculture and poverty elimination.

At the forum organized by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chen also expressed his concern about China's reservoirs.

Out of 85,000 reservoirs nationwide, nearly 35 percent have been found "unsafe and damaged". The leaking reservoirs have brought great loss to farmers and some of them have to turn to crops other than rice, because of water shortages.

The central government has invested 178.6 billion yuan (US$22 billion) over the past five years in water conservation projects to fight against drought and flooding, strengthen reservoirs and provide adequate water for animals and human beings, said Chen.

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2003)