China steps up implementation of water conservancy projects backed by additional bonds

More than 7,800 water conservancy projects are being implemented at an accelerated pace in China with the support of additional bonds issued last year, laying a solid foundation for agricultural production and flood and drought prevention next year.

The Chinese central government issued 1 trillion yuan (about 140.42 billion U.S. dollars) in additional government bonds last year to support the rebuilding of disaster-hit areas and raise the country's disaster relief capabilities, with a focus on financing water conservancy projects.

Over 100 billion yuan (about 14.04 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested in water conservancy projects in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which was hit hard by flooding last year. This accounts for one quarter of the investment for all water conservancy projects nationwide financed by additional treasury bonds.

"China is stepping up implementation of water conservancy projects across the country, with a total of 410.94 billion yuan (around 57.71 billion U.S. dollars) being invested in more than 7,800 projects financed by additional government bonds. Over 15 billion yuan (around 2.1 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested in Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Sichuan and other provinces in the country," said Yuan Hao, an official from the Ministry of Water Resources.

China steps up implementation of water conservancy projects backed by additional bonds

Israel carefully considered the timing of its attacks on Iran, according to a political analyst.

During an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Sultan Barakat, a professor at Doha's Hamad Bin Khalifa University, noted that Israel wanted to respond promptly to Iran's attacks but took time to carefully plan its actions.

"The timing and most important aspect of it was to try and carry it out ahead of the U.S. elections day. But, of course, it has taken Israel some time to work out the attack. The decision to undertake that act, I think, was taken almost immediately following the Iranian attack earlier this month. But what to target and how to access Iran, and to what extent to carry out the attack -- those issues have had to be thought through carefully," he said.

Iranian officials are carefully monitoring the situation in the region and assessing the best way to react.

"Iran can naturally respond against foreign acts of aggression under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. However, Iranian officials have always emphasized that we are not seeking war with any country in the world," said Foad Izadi, an Iranian scholar and political analyst.

Israel carefully weighed timing of attack on Iran: analyst