This year marks the 7th anniversary of China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project that benefits 140 million people by transferring water from southern rivers to the dry regions of northern China.

The first phase – the East Middle Route – has benefited more than 280 counties and districts in 40 large and medium-sized cities in the provinces of Henan, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Shandong, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

It includes three routes that run through the south to the north across the country's east, middle and west.

Before the project, water resources per capita in Beijing and Tianjin reached only 292 cubic meters, far below the internationally recognized "extreme water shortage standard" of 500 cubic meters.

Seven years later, Nanshui or water diverted from the south has become the main water source of many large and medium-sized cities from previously a supplementary water source. Now more than 70% of the water supply in the urban area of Beijing is transferred from the south, as is almost all of the water supply in the main urban area of Tianjin. So too is more than 90% of the residential water in Zhengzhou, capital city of Henan Province. Thanks to the project, more than 5 million people in the water-receiving areas of Hebei Province also bid farewell to high-fluoride water and brackish water after generations.

Not only has the project enriched and improved the quality of tap water in northern China, it also provides a steady stream of water for rivers and lakes along the route.

The middle line of the project which starts from Jiangsu Province has accumulated more than 7 billion cubic meters of water supply to more than 50 rivers in the north. The input of water has helped a large number of rivers and lakes, such as Hutuohe, Baohe, Nanjumahe, Daqinghe, Baiyangdian return to life. From August to September 2021, for the first time, water was supplied to the Yongding River in the Beijing section, enabling a full-line water supply of 865 kilometers for the first time since 1996.

The whole project is expected to finish within 50 years.

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