BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's investment in water conservancy facilities rose 2.9 percent year on year to 198.81 billion yuan (about 27.58 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, official data showed on Thursday.

China began 6,034 new water conservancy projects in the first quarter, Vice Minister of Water Resources Chen Min told a press conference.

During the period, construction related to water conservancy projects had put 28.86 billion yuan of local government special bonds into use, an increase of 37 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, 41.41 billion yuan of loans had been used in the construction of water conservancy projects, soaring 38.5 percent year on year.

In the first quarter, water conservancy projects created 660,000 jobs nationwide, according to the vice minister. ■