The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 892 South-to-North Water Diversion Project
China's financial system currently has four lines of defense to prevent financial crises.

The first line of defense is to maintain a basic balance in the current account.

The second line of defence is to continue to attract foreign direct investment, especially in the infrastructure sector.

The third line of defense is to maintain international reserves at a relatively high and safer level. The foreign exchange reserves in US dollars should be maintained at about US$50 billion. Add some major European currencies, and the foreign exchange reserves should be maintained at about US$70 billion. The rest is gold reserves.

The fourth line of defense is to control capital accounts while gradually opening up the capital market to the outside world.

If any of the four lines of defense is breached, it will be a danger signal.

Every year, a large amount of foreign trade profits are generated by importing large quantities of grain, minerals, timber, etc. from North America, Latin America, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The money earned is converted into commodities, fixed investments, and fixed assets.

Railways, highways, roads, water conservancy facilities, nuclear power plants, parks, affordable housing, etc. have been continuously built in recent years. In addition to the investment from Panshan Group, a large part of the investment comes from the state.

As the Spring Festival approached, Liu Tao returned to the capital three days earlier than usual.

However, he went to the capital to attend an important meeting and celebrate the New Year at the same time.

He arrived in the capital at night and took his wife and children home. The next morning, Liu Tao rushed to the venue.

Compared with 10 years ago, motorcycles and cars can be seen everywhere on the streets of Beijing now. The current number of motor vehicles in the capital has reached 170 million.

This is also a microcosm of China's current situation, that is, the number of motor vehicles has increased significantly.

In 1978, there were a total of 135.84 million civilian vehicles in China, including 25.90 passenger cars, 100.17 million trucks, and 9.77 others.

Up to now, according to the statistics released by the statistics department, the number of civilian cars in China has reached 2053.17 million, of which 1440 million are private cars.

The capital city has begun to see a lot of traffic.

In recent years, the capital has also been continuously building roads, subways, and improving the city's public transportation system, so that there is no serious traffic jam in the capital.

When Liu Tao arrived at the conference room, he saw that there were already many people in the room, and basically everyone was there.

After about five minutes, the meeting officially started.

The leader presided over the meeting, and the Ministry of Water Resources took the lead in reporting.

This meeting was about the Ministry of Water Resources' application for the "South-to-North Water Diversion" project.

The "South-to-North Water Diversion" project has been explored since the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1958, the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power and other relevant departments and units formed the South-to-North Water Diversion Research Group. Based on a comprehensive investigation and survey, they proposed 10 water diversion routes to draw water from the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. One of them is the Grand Canal water diversion line that draws water from the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, that is, to draw water in sections from the Huaihe River into the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, through Gaobao Lake, Hongze Lake, the South Four Lakes, and into the Yellow River at Dongping Lake, supplying water in stages to irrigate farmland along the line.

In 1959, the Huaihe River Basin was hit by a severe drought, and Jiangsu Province proposed to build a water diversion project in northern Jiangsu. With the approval of the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, Jiangsu Province began to build the Jiangdu Pumping Station in 1961. With the support of the state, after more than years of construction, a comprehensive system of water diversion projects for water diversion, irrigation, drainage, and shipping was initially established. During this exploratory stage, through land surveys, a comprehensive investigation of water transmission routes available for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project was conducted; the construction of the Jiangsu Province River Diversion Project laid the foundation for the East Line of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, and was also a beneficial attempt at the South-to-North Water Diversion Project.

As for planning, in 1972, a severe drought occurred in North China. In order to solve the water resource crisis in the Haihe River Basin, the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power established the South-to-North Water Diversion Planning Group to carry out the planning work of the South-to-North Water Diversion. In 1974, the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power submitted the "South-to-North Water Diversion Short-term Planning Task Book" to the State Planning Commission, proposing that the South-to-North Water Diversion in the near future was the East Line Water Diversion Plan. In 1976, the "South-to-North Water Diversion Short-term Project Planning Report" was proposed and submitted in 1977.

The plan focuses on agricultural water supply, improving and developing 6400 million mu of irrigation area, supplying 27 billion cubic meters of water to cities, and making the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal a major north-south water transportation artery. It is planned to pump 1000 cubic meters per second from the Yangtze River near Yangzhou, 600 cubic meters per second across the Yellow River, and 100 cubic meters per second to Tianjin.

In 1978, with approval from above, the Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power took the lead in convening a preliminary on-site review meeting for the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The meeting agreed to the East Line water diversion plan, the water transmission line and pumping cascade plan proposed in the plan, and determined to cross the Yellow River through the mountains in place. It also required that irrigation area planning be supplemented in the revised plan.

After years of continuous preliminary preparations, the country has enough money, and the "South-to-North Water Diversion Project" has completed all the planning and design, and the conditions for starting the project are ripe.

With the development of society, water shortage in the north has become more and more prominent, and the country is also interested in this regard.

‘南水北调工程’规划区涉及人口差不多4亿，调水规模448亿立方米。工程规划的东、中、西线干线总长度达4350公里。东、中线一期工程干线总长为2899公里，沿线六省市一级配套支渠2700公里。

Through the three water diversion routes of the East Line, the Middle Line and the West Line, and the connection with the four major rivers of the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huai River and the Haihe River, an overall layout with "four horizontal and three vertical" as the main body is formed, which is conducive to the realization of a reasonable allocation pattern of China's water resources in the north-south allocation and the east-west mutual assistance.

The 'South-to-North Water Diversion' project is expected to take 20 years, with a total investment of 4000 billion yuan.

At the meeting, provinces and cities expressed their opinions, and ministries and commissions expressed their views.

"Comrade Liu Tao, it's your turn to express your opinions now." The leader looked at Liu Tao.

Liu Tao attended the meeting this time as a technical expert.

Liu Tao pondered for a moment and said, "The importance and necessity of 'Water Diversion from South to North' is beyond doubt. It can largely solve the problem of water shortage in northern my country, especially in the Huanghuai River Basin. As for the technical aspects, I think there is no problem."

The southwestern region is also carrying out inter-basin and inter-regional water transfer to enable better utilization of water resources.

For more than a decade, the southwestern region has not suffered from a water shortage crisis.

It is different in the north. Dry years bring great suffering to the north, and normal years are also plagued by water shortages.

"Let me add one thing about pollution control along the route. Pollution has now become a common problem that causes headaches. The water from the South-to-North Water Diversion Project will not only be used for irrigation but also for drinking water. Pollution control along the route must be considered comprehensively," Liu Tao added.

The "Water Diversion from South to North" project uses the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal on the eastern line, which involves ship locks and pumping stations. There are too many cities, towns and villages along the route, so pollution prevention and control is very important. Otherwise, the water transported to the north will not be clean water, but sewage.

The same problem also exists on the center line, which passes through a large plain and is also a densely populated area, so pollution prevention and control are also very important.

The western route is located in a harsh environment and does not have this problem. The water diversion along the western route is from the Jinsha River, Yalong River, and Dadu River to Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, and Shanxi in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, where the pollution prevention and control problem is not so prominent.

Among them are the cascade hydropower stations planned and constructed by Panshan Group.

(End of this chapter)