Xi Jinping inspects China's mega water diversion project in Henan

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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday paid a visit to relocated residents for the country's mega water diversion project on the second day of his trip in Nanyang, central China's Henan Province.

His visit this time marks his sixth inspection around the country this year, following southern areas of Guangxi and Fujian, southwest province of Guizhou, northern province of Hebei and capital Beijing.

To quench the thirsty north

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project – the world's largest operation of such – was designed to optimize the allocation of water sources of the country and quench the thirsty north. Essentially, that would require taking water from China's longest river, the Yangtze, through its eastern, middle and western routes to feed the north.

According to official data released in February, over 40 billion cubic meters of water were transferred through its middle and eastern routes since going into operation.

During his Thursday inspection, Xi visited the houses of those relocated local residents and learned about their livelihoods.

He also learned about the construction, management and operation of the middle route of the project and the ecological protection of water.

The middle route of the project – the most prominent of the three routes of the project – starts from the Danjiangkou Reservoir in central China and runs across Henan and Hebei provinces before reaching Beijing and Tianjin.