China has decided to invest 125 billion US dollars by 2020 to further explore its rich hydropower resources. Officials announced the plan on Wednesday at an international symposium in Beijing, reported CCTV Thursday.

A clean and renewable energy resource, hydropower has become an important energy alternative. It is China's second largest energy resource next to coal. With its ample water resources, China has the potential for about 400 million exploitable kilowatts of hydropower. But the country has so far only utilized less than one fourth of that.

At the symposium attended by government officials and UN representatives, Vice Minister Zhang Guobao of the State Development and Reform Commission said China will take measures to explore its hydropower potential in the next decade. The country is to build more than 30 big hydropower stations in resource-rich regions, including eight on the central Jinsha River, and five on the western Lancang River. Meanwhile, the government will put the whole country's hydropower exploitation under a unified program, and encourage social and individual investment in small hydroelectric projects.

Source: CCTV.com