A water treatment plant built by China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co. Ltd in the Angolan city of M’banza-Kongo began treating water on Monday, the China News Service (CNS) reports.

The Chinese state-run news agency describes the plant, located in the northwestern Zaire province, as the first modern water treatment plant in Angola.

The report says the plant and associated waterworks may supply water to about 70,000 people, improving their lives, creating jobs for them and generally developing the economy of their city.

The waterworks include facilities for treating about 1,000 cubic metres of water an hour, a pumping station, 10 km of intake pipelines and 95.5 km of water mains, the report says.

Construction began in 2016 and progressed despite a lack of resources and transport difficulties, CNS says.