China's Ministry of Finance said Thursday that it will allocate 169.9 billion yuan (26.96 billion U.S. dollars) in funds to facilitate water conservancy and strengthen flood control for over 5,000 medium- and small-sized rivers during the 2011-2015 period.

According to a plan approved by the State Council last year, the ministry will issue funds for the treatment of rivers with basin areas from 200 square kilometers to 3,000 square kilometers to strengthen flood prevention during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period.

The plan prioritizes improving underdeveloped water conservancy facilities along rivers with basin areas over 200 square kilometers.

The ministry said it has earmarked 33 billion yuan to improve water conservancy projects on 2,209 medium- and small-sized rivers since the country drafted a plan to manage medium- and small-sized rivers in 2009.

The ministry said most of the 1,239 pilot water conservancy programs launched by the plan in 2009 have been completed, and the rest are expected to be finished by the end of 2012.

The country has attached increasing importance on the management of medium- and small-sized rivers as floods and drought in recent years have exposed weaknesses in the water conservancy infrastructure.

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