This aerial photo taken on Sept. 2, 2023 shows water sluice gates of the Dateng Gorge Water Conservancy project in Guiping City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)

China invested a record 974.8 billion yuan (about 136.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the construction of water conservancy facilities in the first 10 months of 2023, official data showed on Tuesday.

The country broke ground on 26,400 water conservancy projects during the January-October period, with 37 being major projects, according to data from the Ministry of Water Resources.

Water conservancy projects have played a key role in stabilizing employment, creating a total of 2.42 million jobs nationwide during the period.

The ministry noted that it will seek to commence another batch of major water conservancy projects before the end of this year, and make full use of treasury bonds to help fund construction.