Three Gorges Dam 'Hugely Beneficial'

China Three Gorges Corporation said Sunday that the Three Gorges Dam provides huge benefits to society and economy in terms of its functions in flood control, drought prevention, clean energy and navigation.

The dam guards against floods for the middle and lower Yangtze River regions and has helped alleviate the region's current drought - the worst in 50 years, according to corporation chairman Cao Guangjing.

Cao cited a social responsibility report, the first of its kind issued by the company.

According to the report, the dam has released more than 20 billion cubic meters of water downstream this year in an effort to raise water levels and ease drought.

In 2010, more than 26 billion cubic meters of water was held back in the reservoir, which helped enhance flood control capacity of the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, it said.

In addition, the dam, the world's largest hydropower project, provided 84.37 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity last year, which helped avoid the burning of 28.94 million tonnes of standard coal, or the emission of 70.66 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, said the report.