The Yangtze River, once flooding on biblical proportions and causing untold suffering, is being brought under control through major water conservacy projects.
Conservancy in drainage of the river has been fruitful since 1998, experts say.
The Yangtze River Water Resources Committee said the country's capacity to combat floods on the mainstream of the river has improved enormously. It cites massive investment and construction of an array of conservancy works.
The efforts have helped the country save 700 billion yuan (US$86.31 billion), which would otherwise have been lost in damage caused by devastating flooding in recent years, said the committee.
China spent 106.2 billion yuan on water conservancy construction from 1998 through 2004, of which, 71.1 billion yuan was paid directly from state coffers, said Chen Zongzhou, a senior official with the division of finance and economy of the committee.