Premier Wen Jiabao, who heads the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee of the State Council, has called on developers to give priority to quality and safety in the third phase of the project.

Wen, who addressed the 14th full-member meeting of the committee Friday in Beijing, said quality and safety should top all other things in the building and operation of the largest water control and hydropower project in China.

He called on the developers to pay greater attention to engineering quality and safety, the resettlement of affected people, local economic development and bioenvironmental protection in the dam area, and the management of reservoir.

The meeting summed up the experience of the project over the past year, and the participants heard reports by various departments.

2004 is the first year for the third phase of the project.

The Three Gorges project on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River will have a hydropower station with a total installed generating capacity of 18.2 million kw, the largest in the world. Operating at a water level of 175 meters, the dam will also improve navigation up the Yangtze and flood control on the river. Construction of the project was started in 1994, to be undertaken in three phases and to be completed in 2009.

Source: Xinhua