OREANDA-NEWS. The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors today approved a $100 million loan aimed to improve water resource management and environmental sustainability in Shanxi province in the People's Republic of China (PRC).

The Shanxi Urban-Rural Water Source Protection and Environmental Demonstration Project will provide more than 98,000 residents in Zuoquan County of Shanxi Province in the Hai River basin — which has scarce water supply and is heavily polluted — with easier access to sufficient, safe water supply, better sanitation facilities, and improved flood protection. It will also strengthen climate resilience in the area through revegetation, storm water drain installation, and green river embankment construction and rehabilitation, among others.

“The project will help improve quality of life for residents in the rapidly developing Zuoquan County by increasing their access to basic services, such as water supply and wastewater treatment, while making the environment they are in — which is prone to flood and soil erosion — safe and climate resilient," said Yaozhou Zhou, a Principal Water Resources Specialist for ADB. “ADB is committed to working closely with our counterparts to help achieve the country’s development goals."

Zuoquan County, which includes the Shixia reservoir and Qingzhang River, is part of Shanxi Province’s ecological belt. About one-third of its population live in poverty, making it a focus of PRC’s poverty reduction efforts.

The project aims to improve infrastructure through various technical and policy measures at the county level, with the potential of scaling up in other areas of the country, to advance the PRC government’s goal of ecological civilization and poverty reduction.