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An ancient canal still functioning in south China may augur success for the country's south-to-north water diversion project, experts say.

The Linqu Canal, the oldest canal in the world, was ordered to be built by the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (B.C. 221 -- B.C.207) in Xing'an County of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Li Duoyu, 76-year-old former curator of the Xing'an Museum and chief administrator of the canal reconstruction project, said the 37-kilometer canal built over 2,000 years ago is a model water diversion project.

By diverting a wealth of water from the Xiangjiang River in the north to the Lijiang River in the south, the Linqu Canal connects the two water systems of the Yangtze River and Pearl River.

Li said the emperor used the canal to transport provisions, which helped him unite the southern kingdoms. People of the Han and Zhuang nationalities have since lived peacefully together there.

It is amazing that 2000 years later, people are still benefiting from the canal, he said.

Statistics from the Guangxi Water Resources Administration show the canal could divert up to 100 million cubic meters of water to the Lijiang River, irrigating more than 3,300 hectares of farmland and easing the demand for water from the area's population of four million.

Li said he has faith in China's great tradition of water diversion and therefore the future success of the south-to-north water diversion project.

Zhang Jiyao, deputy minister of water resources, said the south-to-north water diversion project would have three routes which will move water from three places along the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to northern destinations.

By 2010, the first and second phases of the East Route construction and the first phase of the Middle Route construction should be completed. Total cost of this work would be more than 180 billion yuan (about 22 billion U.S. dollars), Zhang said.

The project is crucial for relieving water shortages, improving the ecosystem and promoting the strategy to develop western China, Zhang said.