A Chinese lawmaker said on Friday that the Three Gorges project will not cause major impacts on eco-environment, as China attaches importance to environmental protection in its designing and operation.

The project brings about beneficial results not only in economic and social development, but also in eco-environment protection, said Suo Lisheng, a deputy to the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), on the sidelines of the ongoing NPC session.

Hydropower is clean energy and the project will save China the consumption of much coal used in thermo-electric power plants, reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and pollutants, said Suo, who is also deputy director of the project's quality control panel.

"The human being would still live in a primitive society if they had never made changes to eco-environment," Suo said.

Designers have taken into consideration the project's impacts on environment before its construction and are still monitoring closely, he added.

"The Three Gorges Project will not become another Sanmenxia project," said the lawmaker, referring to the Yellow River dam in Shaanxi Province that accumulated 1.5 billion tons of silt in two years of its operation in 1960, raising the river's bed significantly.

At the Three Gorges, 23 big holes have been built at strategic parts within the dam. The passages are opened in the rainy season when there is more silt in the water.

Designers had anticipated the reservoir would accumulate 530 million tons of silt each year. However, the actual figure is only 200 million tons annually according to monitoring in 2003 and 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2008)