XI'AN- China has spent 4.7 billion yuan ($738 million) on controlling water and soil erosion around the Yangtze River over the past five years, aiming to improve the river's ecological environment, local authorities said.

Jiang Jufeng, governor of Sichuan Province, made the remarks during the 15th session of the Upper Yangtze Soil and Water Conservation Committee held in Xi'an on Thursday.

He said the funds were mainly put toward launching a series of projects in water and soil conservation over an area of 40,000 square kilometers during the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010), increases of 50 percent and 15 percent, respectively, compared to statistics from the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005). The projects have benefitted people in 330 towns of 18 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities along the Yangtze River.

He also pointed out that China still faces tough challenges as nearly 500,000 square kilometers of land continue to suffer from water and soil losses even though a total area of 300,000 square kilometers had been attended to by the end of 2010.

"An ecological compensation mechanism and a long-term effect mechanism for water and soil conservation have yet to be perfected in order to maintain sustainable development," said Jiang.