BEIJING -- Major construction work on the middle route of China's water diversion project has been completed, the project construction committee announced on Wednesday.

The project, one of the country's largest infrastructure schemes, is designed to take water from the south to drought-prone areas in the north, including Beijing. Water will flow northward via three routes -- eastern, middle and western.

After ten years of construction, the middle route is set to start supply water in 2014 for 19 major cities and more than 100 smaller towns in north China.

The latest progress came after the eastern route of the project has started to supply water to the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and Shandong earlier this month, whereas the western route, which required more sophisticated technology, is still in the research stage.