BEIJING -- China has 91 major water projects under construction, at a cost over 800 billion yuan (120 billion U.S. dollars), according to a report submitted to the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

The projects are among 172 water conservation projects planned for the coming five years.

In the 2011-2015 period, China spent 2.43 trillion yuan on water conservation, providing safe drinking water to around 300 million rural residents and over 40 million students and teachers in the countryside, according to the report.

With uneven water resources, floods and droughts, China's water resources per capita are far below the global average.