BEIJING — China saw expanding investment in water conservancy facilities in the first eight months of 2022 amid efforts to shore up the economy, Vice-Minister of Water Resources Liu Weiping said on Sept 14.

Completed investment in water conservancy projects totaled 977.6 billion yuan (about $141.4 billion) during the period, an increase of 329.6 billion yuan, or 50.9 percent, from the previous year, said Liu.

Investment in water conservancy projects under construction had exceeded 1.8 trillion yuan by the end of August, the vice-minister added.

The country initiated some 19,000 new water conservancy projects from January to August.

To stabilize the economy, China has ramped up the construction of water conservancy infrastructure and is expected to complete investments of more than 800 billion yuan in water conservancy construction in 2022.