The northwestern Province of Qinghai will spend 289 million yuan ($44 million) this year to improve the quality of drinking water, authorities said.

A project covering 312 villages will benefit about 316,000 herdsmen, according to the provincial department of water resources.

Qinghai's agricultural and pastoral areas are mostly mountainous, making access to safe drinking water difficult. Government spending on improving water in these areas has exceeded 4.7 billion yuan since 2000, bringing safe drinking water to more than four million rural people.

The province plans to spend 1.86 billion yuan on drinking water safety in the next five years.

(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2016)