Dashixia Water Control Project in China's Xinjiang completes dam capping

The Dashixia Water Control Project in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the largest water conservancy project in Tarim Basin, has reached a significant milestone in its construction with the capping of its dam on Monday, signaling the start of preparations for water storage, according to China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited, investor and also builder of the project.

Located in the middle and lower reaches of Kumarak River in Aksu region, the project is one of the 172 major water conservancy projects for water saving and supply in China.

At 247 meters, the dam is the world's tallest concrete face rock-fill dam currently under construction, equivalent to the height of an 80-story building. This achievement sets a global standard for dam construction.

The dam has a total installed capacity of 750,000 kW and a reservoir volume of 1.17 billion cubic meters.

Once fully operational, the project will generate over 1.8 billion kWh of clean electricity annually.

In addition, it will greatly enhance agricultural irrigation in the downstream Aksu region, benefiting key crops such as walnuts, apples, and jujubes.

The ecological environment of the Aksu River, which flows into the Tarim River, China's longest inland river, along with the Yarkant, Hotan, and other rivers, is also expected to improve significantly as a result of the project.

"Once the Dashixia water reservoir project is completed, we will be able to store floodwater in the reservoir to provide water for approximately eight million mu (around 533,333 hectares) of farmland downstream," said Li Yang, chief engineer for reservoir dam construction of Dashixia Water Control Project.

Dashixia Water Control Project in China's Xinjiang completes dam capping

Dashixia Water Control Project in China's Xinjiang completes dam capping

Dashixia Water Control Project in China's Xinjiang completes dam capping

Dashixia Water Control Project in China's Xinjiang completes dam capping

Dashixia Water Control Project in China's Xinjiang completes dam capping

China welcomes companies from across the world to invest and run business in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), sharing the dividends brought by the region's development and "one country, two systems", a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Mao Ning, the spokeswoman, made the statement at a press conference in Beijing in response to a question on the achievements of economic and social development made in Hong Kong over the post-pandemic year of 2024.

"In 2024, with the strong support of the central government, the Hong Kong SAR government shouldered great responsibility, forged ahead with a pragmatic spirit, pooled its efforts to seek economic growth and development, and to strengthen external exchanges and cooperation, continuously consolidating the sound momentum of stable development in Hong Kong. Hong Kong was rated as the world's freest economy. Its ranking as an international financial center has risen to the third place globally. The scale of assets under the management of Hong Kong surpassed 4 trillion U.S. dollars. And Hong Kong also handled more than 44 million tourist visits throughout the year, an increase of over 30 percent year on year," Mao said.

"About 170,000 individuals were attracted to work in Hong Kong through various talent schemes. As of the end of last year, the total number of mainland and overseas companies that had settled in Hong Kong was close to 10,000, and nearly 4,700 startups were established in Hong Kong, both of which hit an all-time high. We are fully confident that Hong Kong will achieve even greater development. We welcome enterprises from all over the world to make investment and run business in Hong Kong, sharing the dividends of Hong Kong's development and 'One Country, Two Systems'," said the spokeswoman.

China welcomes global companies to invest, do business in Hong Kong: spokeswoman