In 2024, China's water conservancy construction investment reached a historic high, with 46967 water conservancy projects implemented and a total water conservancy construction investment of 135.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%. Water conservancy projects, especially major ones, have the characteristics of attracting large investments, long industrial chains, and creating multiple employment opportunities, which can effectively drive economic growth. How can water conservancy investment expand domestic demand and drive economic growth? Recently, reporters visited several major water conservancy projects to conduct interviews and carefully calculate the investment accounts behind the data. How to implement investment? Using both hands to create as much physical quantity as possible, Majin Creek, the source of Qiantang River, is formed. The 85.5-meter-long dam starts from the middle of the river, and a 24 kilometer long water conveyance tunnel runs through the mountains, taking 3 years to construct. The Kaihua Reservoir in Zhejiang Province has the conditions for lower gate water storage and acceptance. From the excavation of the first shovel of soil to the basic completion, the investment plan was executed in an orderly manner, and funds were disbursed in a timely manner, ensuring that the project generated as much physical quantity as possible. The total initial investment of the project was 4.554 billion yuan, and currently the completed investment is 4.479 billion yuan, accounting for over 98%. Among them, the actual completed investment in 2024 is 820 million yuan, exceeding the annual investment plan Li Yu, Deputy Chief Economist and Director of Business Management Department of South to North Water Diversion (Kaihua) Water Co., Ltd., introduced. How to implement investment? Funds follow the project. "Li Yu introduced that the annual investment plan is broken down into months, and the project construction is dynamically managed. Once progress is found to be lagging, measures such as adding new work faces and adjusting construction organization are taken to promote the orderly implementation of the investment plan. In terms of fund disbursement, we adopt information technology methods and establish a real-time SMS reminder network signing mechanism. The information is open and transparent, and communication is timely and effective. After the project acceptance is qualified, the funds are disbursed to the construction unit in a timely manner Li Yu introduces. Where does the money come from for major water conservancy projects? The government's hand is powerful. "The investment from the government is 3.54 billion yuan, including 1.15 billion yuan from the central budget, 1.59 billion yuan from Zhejiang provincial special funds, and 800 million yuan from treasury bond." Zhang Wei, deputy secretary of the Party Leadership Group and director of Kaihua Reservoir Construction Center, introduced. Mechanism innovation, leveraging social capital, and the hands of the market. China South to North Water Diversion Group Co., Ltd. takes the lead in social capital and forms a joint venture to participate in project construction management through a franchise model. The relevant person in charge of the Water Resources Department of Zhejiang Province introduced that the early investment and construction, mid-term operation and management, and later exit of social capital can not only leverage the advantages of social capital in management and technology, but also reduce the burden on the government and lower debt risks. Optimizing financial services, providing loan interest rate discounts... Bank financing provides a helping hand. The investment scale of major water conservancy projects is large and the construction period is long. Through bidding and comparison, we have obtained a provisional loan amount of 660 million yuan from the bank, with a loan term of 28 years, "said Zhang Wei. A new pattern of water conservancy investment and financing has been basically formed, with the joint efforts of fiscal funds, financial credit, and social capital, promoting the strengthening of water conservancy investment. According to the relevant person in charge of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Water Resources, since 2024, the water conservancy department has paid close attention to the implementation of financial funds, made every effort to promote the implementation of additional treasury bond water conservancy projects, and played a good role in driving and amplifying the effect of government investment. At the same time, strive for more financial support and implement loan quotas; Encourage and guide social capital to participate in various forms such as franchising and equity cooperation, and achieve the first listing of water conservancy infrastructure investment trust funds. A series of measures to deepen the reform of water conservancy investment and financing, and continuously expand investment and financing channels. How to promote the smooth circulation of the industrial chain? The new demand for water conservancy engineering construction has given rise to new supply, driving the coordinated development of upstream and downstream in the southern Guangdong region. The "progress bar" of the Guangdong water resource allocation project around the Beibu Gulf continues to be refreshed. At the construction site of the D4 pipeline, the crane arm lifted and lowered the pipeline accurately, and slowly moved it to the predetermined position. As the largest cross basin water diversion project in Guangdong's history, with the longest water transmission line, the most complex construction conditions, and the highest total investment, the "big block" has been mobilized, effectively driving the upstream and downstream industrial chain. The project requires 3 million tons of traditional building materials such as cement, 1.1 million tons of steel, and 11.3 million cubic meters of sand and gravel, which will effectively drive upstream enterprise production Yang Jianxi, Assistant General Manager of Guangdong Yuehai Yuexi Water Supply Co., Ltd., introduced. New demand generates new supply. Engineering has special requirements for prestressed steel wire base materials for pipelines, which require strict control of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen content. The large-scale application has driven the improvement of special steel production processes, "Yang Jianxi introduced. Crossing the Yunkai Mountains, traversing over 100 railways, highways, and rivers, and excavating long-distance tunnels, is a characteristic of the Guangdong Water Resources Allocation Project around the Beibu Gulf. Engineering construction drives the R&D investment and production manufacturing of shield tunneling machine enterprises. "Yang Jianxi said that according to different geological characteristics, the project will adopt four types of equipment, including open hard rock tunneling machine, double shield hard rock tunneling machine, mud water balance shield and soil pressure balance shield, equipped with intelligent tunneling system, advanced geological prediction system, large-scale refrigeration equipment, etc., further driving the development of engineering design, intelligent information design and other enterprises. The equipment manufacturing amount is about 1.7 billion yuan. Major water conservancy projects effectively activate existing resources and bring incremental growth. The second phase of the Huaihe River estuary project has a total length of 164.8 kilometers and a total investment of approximately 44 billion yuan. The tower cranes, truck cranes, concrete tankers, and dump trucks required for engineering construction are mostly rented locally, with a total of over 140 sets, which improves equipment utilization, "said Shi Hongliang, project manager of Huaihe Water Resources and Hydropower Development Co., Ltd. Since the start of construction at the end of November 2023, the Erhe Hub's flood control gate has completed a total of 52000 cubic meters of concrete pouring. The required materials such as steel bars and cement can bring over 55 million yuan in growth points for the development of upstream related industries Li Jing, Director of the Erhe Hub Construction and Management Bureau of the Huaihe River Conservancy Commission Construction Bureau, introduced. Lead new supply with new demand and activate new demand with new supply. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Water Resources introduced that accelerating the construction of water conservancy projects will not only directly drive the development of traditional related industries such as cement, steel, mechanical equipment, pumps and valves, pipelines, and construction design, but also drive the development of new industries such as new materials, advanced manufacturing, and artificial intelligence with the clearer trend of intelligent and green engineering construction and management, further smoothing the economic cycle. How can profitable investments be achieved? To make up for shortcomings and provide strong support for high-quality development, effective investment refers to investing with quality, efficiency, and returns. Water conservancy engineering can effectively fill the gaps in social livelihood, infrastructure, and provide strong water support for the high-quality development of modern agriculture, advanced manufacturing, green and low-carbon industries. On December 30, 2024, the Baise Reservoir Irrigation Area Project for Drought Control in Northwest Guangxi officially opened, providing approximately 77.62 million cubic meters of agricultural water and 11.05 million cubic meters of urban and rural industrial water to the areas along the line annually. The water source has stabilized, and the confidence in developing industries is also sufficient Li Yinghua, a mango grower in Fulan Village, Linfeng Town, Tiandong County, Baise City, Guangxi, said that in the past, watering mangoes on the mountains was a difficult problem. When encountering drought, he drove a small tricycle to fetch water, and the yield was not guaranteed. After the irrigation area is connected to water, the pump station will pump water and divert it up the mountain. Not long ago, a new variety of 100 acres was grafted, with fruit bearing in two years and abundant production in three years. It is expected that the yield will increase by more than 20% Li Yinghua has a new plan, "Planting traditional Chinese medicine under mango trees can achieve double harvests in one field." The water change has promoted the continuous extension of the agricultural industry chain. Baise City has introduced a new project and plans to develop around 30000 acres of pomelo. At the same time, a beverage deep processing project with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons will be constructed, forming a full industry chain integrating pomelo planting and deep processing. On January 3rd of this year, one of the landmark major water conservancy projects of the "dual" construction, the modernization irrigation area project of the Heishui River in Zuojiang, Guangxi, started construction, with an estimated total investment of 7.697 billion yuan. As the first major water conservancy project to start construction in 2025, its goal is to provide stable water sources for agricultural production and urban and rural water supply in Chongzuo City, ensure food production, assist in the production of 'double high' sugar cane, and promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas in revolutionary old areas and border regions, "said Fu Tie, Director of the Planning and Planning Department of the Water Resources Department of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Water is an important factor of production, and water conservancy investment can exert strong positive externalities, filling gaps and increasing momentum for industrial development. In 2024, the modernization construction and renovation of 1342 irrigation areas will be accelerated. After completion, an additional 70 million mu of irrigated area will be restored and improved, 23000 rural water supply projects will be completed, and the water supply guarantee level for 110 million rural population will be improved. The Ministry of Water Resources proposed that in 2025, the national water network project system will be established, the provincial water network backbone projects such as Sichuan Water Diversion Project to Min and Liaodong Peninsula Water Resources Allocation Project will be started, the construction progress of key water source projects such as Yulongkashi in Xinjiang and Pazi in Xizang will be accelerated, and the construction of large irrigation areas such as Jinggang in Jiangxi will be started, so as to further play the role of water conservancy investment in stabilizing growth, expanding domestic demand and benefiting people's livelihood. (New Society)