Aerial photo taken on Nov. 19, 2019 shows the Yarkant River at the border of Shache County and Akto County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The hydro dam of the Aratax water conservation project, the largest of its kind in southwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region due to its magnificence and difficulty in construction, started to impound water of the Yarkant River on Tuesday. The Aratax project will play a comprehensive role in flood control, irrigation and power generation. (Xinhua/Guan Qiaoqiao)

China spent a record 726 billion yuan (104.46 billion U.S. dollars) on water conservation projects in 2019, said a senior official with the Ministry of Water Resources Thursday.

The country started the construction of 23 key water conservation projects and completed over 90 percent of the annual investment plan, said E Jingping, minister of water resources, at a work conference in Beijing.

China further improved drinking water quality in rural areas, which benefited 54.8 million people. The country also addressed the problem of excessive fluoride in drinking water for 6.15 million rural people.

China will step up efforts to improve water conservation infrastructure such as farmland irrigation facilities in poverty-stricken areas in 2020, and push for the construction of key water conservation projects, the minister said.