China to invest 100 bln yuan to improve rural water supply in 2024

China plans to invest 100 billion yuan (about 14.1 billion U.S. dollars) to improve its rural water supply and raise the coverage of piped water in rural areas to 92 percent of households and businesses in 2024, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

"[This year] we will strive to complete the investment of 100 billion yuan (about 14.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the construction of rural water supply projects throughout the year. By the end of 2024, the penetration rate of piped water in rural areas nationwide will reach 92 percent," said Xu Dezhi, deputy director of the Department of Rural Water Resources and Hydropower of the Ministry of Water Resources.

The penetration rate of piped water in China's rural areas has increased from 83 percent in 2020 to 90 percent in 2023.

The Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water Resources will also provide 4 billion yuan (about 564 million U.S. dollars) this year in subsidies for the repair and maintenance of existing rural water supply systems.

The ministries will also allocate 3 billion yuan (about 423 million U.S. dollars) to support the construction of small-scale water diversion and transfer projects in 60 rural counties across the country to solve the problems of unstable water supply and insufficient pipeline capacity.

China to invest 100 bln yuan to improve rural water supply in 2024

China successfully launched the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship on Sunday night to send three astronauts to its orbiting space station, with newly released footage from China Media Group (CMG) showcasing the stunning ascent from multiple perspectives.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the trio is set to stay at the Tiangong space station for a year, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship successfully docked with the radial port of Tiangong's core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight mission of China's manned space program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

Footage shows liftoff of Shenzhou-23 spaceship from multiple angles