BEIJING — China started construction on 16 major water conservation projects in 2017, outperforming the annual target of 15, a senior water resources official said on Jan 2.

The State Council decided in 2014 to build 172 major water conservation projects in seven years and so far 122 of them are under construction or functioning, water resources minister Chen Lei told a meeting attended by water resources officials from across the country.

About 2.64 trillion yuan ($406.8 billion) has been invested to finance water conservation projects since 2013, while investment for projects under construction exceeds 900 billion yuan.

Chen pointed out that construction of water conservation projects will mainly serve coordination of regional development such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and Xiongan New Area, while improving flood control capabilities.

China will continue to advance water conservation projects, including allocating water resources in the Pearl River Delta region and fortifying small and vulnerable reservoirs across the country in 2018, according to Chen.