CHENGDU, Aug. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese government officials and experts from the China committee of UNESCO have questioned plans to build a dam near a 2,250-year-old irrigation system in Dujiangyan City of Sichuan Province.

　　The team of officials and experts, after an on-the-spot investigation, warned the dam project might have serious implications for the ancient irrigation system, and no project should be allowed in the area without approval from the central government.

　　The team members are from the Ministry of Construction, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the China national committee of the United National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as well as provincial government departments and cultural heritage department.

　　The Dujiangyan scheme, some 50 km from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, is said to be the world's oldest irrigation project stilloperating, supplying water to more than 670,000 hectares of farmland.

　　Built on the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, a major tributary of China's longest river, the Yangtze, Dujiangyan also provides water for daily and industrial use for people and enterprises in 50 cities in the southwestern province.

　　Dujiangyan was included on the World Heritage List of the UNESCO in 2000.

　　Sichuan water resource authorities have proposed that a dam 1,200 meters long and 23 meters be constructed 1,310 meters upstreamfrom Dujiangyan, claiming that it would contribute to power generation and flood control for the Zipingpu Water Project not far away.

　　The proposal raised sharp controversy nationwide, with conservationists arguing that the dam could damage the landscape in the area and would destroy the irrigation system.

　　Wang Fengwu, a member of the team and a senior official with the Ministry of Construction, said Dujiangyan was a world heritagesite and deserves every possible protection.

　　"No project will be allowed in the area without absolute certainty that the project would not negatively affect the system," he said.

　　According to the investigation team, the World Heritage Center of the UNESCO should be informed about the project, which needs evaluation from a panel of top-class international experts.

　　Since the project is located in a key scenic spot, it also needs approval from government departments concerned. Enditem