BEIJING — China will accelerate its work on 150 major water conservancy projects in 2021, the Ministry of Water Resources said on Jan 25.

These projects involve emergency water supplies under the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, flood prevention in the lower reaches of the Yellow River and water supplies for the Xiong'an New Area, said E Jingping, minister of water resources, at a work conference.

The ministry will ramp up credit support for such projects and encourage the use of special local government bonds and bank loans for fundraising, the minister said.

China unveiled a list last year of 150 major water conservancy projects, with 45 of them having been kick-started, according to the ministry.

The country's investment in water conservancy hit an all-time high of 769.5 billion yuan (about $119 billion) in 2020, up 6 percent year-on-year, data from the ministry showed.