Water transfer to benefit Beijing's eco-environment: experts

China's south-to-north water diversion project will effectively improve Beijing's eco-environment, with water flowing to the capital later this month connecting five major river systems, experts said.

Taking advantage of the transfer route and Beijing's present bodies of water, the project will link the Yongding River, Juma River, Chaobai River, Ju River and the Beijing section of the Grand Canal, allowing water to flow to lakes, rivers and other water sources in the capital city, according to the project's construction commission office in Beijing.

Beijing boasts more than 400 rivers with a basin of at least 10 square km each, but such water sources have dwindled following decades of development.

Xu Xinyi, dean of the College of Water Science under Beijing Normal University, said years of over exploitation of underground water has exacerbated the city's environmental woes.

"With the diversion project, Beijing's water system, particularly rivers with historical significance and cultural values, will be partly repaired," Xu told Xinhua.

The middle route of transfer project will see a massive 9.5 billion cubic meters of water per year pumped through canals and pipes from the Danjiangkou reservoir in central Hubei Province to the northern provinces of Henan and Hebei and to Beijing.

The project was conceived by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong in 1952. The State Council approved the ambitious project in December 2002 after debate lasting nearly half a century.