BEIJING, Dec. 31 -- China has approved a change in the status of China South-to-North Water Diversion Corporation Limited. It will now be under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), the country's top state-owned assets regulator said on Saturday.

This means the number of centrally administered state-owned enterprises in China -- which are under the direct regulation of the SASAC -- has now reached 98.

Founded on Oct. 23, 2020, China South-to-North Water Diversion Corporation Limited is a wholly state-owned enterprise with registered capital of 150 billion yuan (about 21.54 billion U.S. dollars).

The forming of the water diversion group was a major measure taken to bolster management of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, to refine its engineering system, and optimize the allocation of water resources in China.

The South-to-North Water Diversion Project -- which has been pumping water from major rivers in the south to the drought-prone north -- has over the past eight years diverted 58.6 billion cubic meters of water to arid regions in the north through its central and eastern routes. More than 150 million people have directly benefited from this mega water diversion project.