CHANGCHUN - China's investment in water conservancy projects from 2011 to 2020 is expected to reach 4 trillion yuan ($615 billion), almost four times as much as that spent during the past 10 years, a senior water official said Monday.

China's Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei said the country's water conservancy spending during the past five years reached 700 billion yuan, and about 363 billion yuan for the 2001-2005 period.

The increased investment shows the government's determination to transform the nation's backward and inadequate water-related infrastructure, Chen said at a national work conference held in Changchun, capital city of Northeast China's Jilin province.

The investment will be used in projects including consolidating 15,900 small reservoirs by 2013, and another 2,721 large and medium-sized reservoirs by 2015, Chen said.

Chen added the increased investment is expected to strengthen the nation's water conservancy capacities in fighting droughts and floods, which in recent years have increasingly affected many regions across the nation.