China may consider India's relevant water resource concerns

Beijing : China has completed the construction of the Zangmu hydropower facility in Tibet, the largest so far to be built in the region, the company in charge of building the project annoucned. India has expressed concern that upstream dams could disrupt downstream water supplies.

The 2,900-km Brahmaputra flows southeast from Tibet through the Himalayas into northeast India's Arunachal Pradesh before entering Bangladesh and merging with the lower section of the Ganges, when it empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday that the neighbouring nations continue to communicate on the issue.

"China and India have maintained good communication on the issue of water resources. Leaders from two countries have reached consensus during exchange of visits in each other. China pays great attention to the issue of source water protection for downstream regions. Experts commissions from both sides have also been in close contact. We are willing to fully consider India's relevant concern and continue to stay in close contact with India on the issue," Hua told media at a daily briefing in Beijing.

The Brahmaputra in Tibet was identified in China's 2011-2015 energy "five-year plan" as one of the key sites for hydropower development, along with two other transboundary rivers in southwest Yunnan province, the Salween and the Mekong.

China's hydropower capacity reached 300 gigawatts last year, exceeding its 2015 target a year in advance, but the pace of construction is expected to slow over the next five years with the power market in surplus and the grid already struggling to take on new plants.