China Three Gorges Corporation
State-owned developer-operator of the Three Gorges Dam and its staged construction programme.
PIA Investigations Covering This Organisation
China Three Gorges Corporation appears in 1 Project Insider Asia investigation, covering Hydropower.
The Evidence Record
What the investigations document about China Three Gorges Corporation's involvement, drawn from the published investigation records.
Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
| Investigation focus | The World's Largest Power Station Met Its Engineering Targets on Its 17-Year Plan. What It Cannot Settle Is the Argument About Everything Else. |
|---|---|
| Cost | Audited final settlement 207.873 billion yuan (2013; ~US$34 billion then); approved static budget 90.1 billion yuan (1993 prices); true economic cost contested |
| Country | China |
| Industry | Hydropower / water infrastructure |
| Key dates | Approved April 1992; construction December 1994; full generating capacity July 2012; ship lift 2016 |
Governance Lessons
Lessons from the investigations covering China Three Gorges Corporation, each attributed to its source investigation.
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Hypothecated Funding Beats Annual Appropriations
The Three Gorges Construction Fund — a national electricity surcharge — gave the programme a continuous, dedicated revenue stream insulated from annual budget politics. Megaprojects die of funding dribble; this one never went thirsty.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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Design for Revenue Before Completion
First power flowed in July 2003, nine years into a seventeen-year programme. Phased commissioning turned the project into a self-financing asset mid-build and gave engineers an operating feedback loop while construction continued.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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Stage the Impossible Into Deliverable Tranches
River diversion, left-bank plant, right-bank plant, underground plant, ship locks, ship lift: each tranche was commissioned and proven before the next peaked. Scale stopped being a risk because it was never attempted all at once.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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Delivery Success Is Not Project Success
On time and on budget did not settle siltation, seismicity, resettlement hardship or flood-control limits. Governance frameworks that score only cost and schedule will certify projects that history judges more harshly.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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Resettlement Deserves Engineering-Grade Governance
The concrete programme had world-class controls; the relocation of over a million people had demonstrably weaker ones — auditors found resettlement funds misappropriated in the early years. Social programmes need the same QA, audit and accountability as works contracts.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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Publish the Caveats Yourself
China's own 2011 acknowledgement of ecological problems and the National Audit Office's public findings did more for the project's credibility than any promotional record. Institutions that document their own caveats retain control of the narrative.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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A Single Structure Cannot Own a Basin-Scale Problem
The 2020 floods showed the dam absorbing record inflows and downstream districts still flooding. Flood control is a portfolio — reservoirs, forecasting, land use and evacuation — and overselling one asset invites backlash at the first extreme event.
From Three Gorges Dam: Delivered at Design Capacity — and an Invoice That Never Closes
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