Chongqing, a large industrial hub in southwest China, plans to relocate 100,000 people this year to make way for the massive Three Gorges Dam project, state media said Thursday.

By 2009, when the dam is completed, the city will have to move another 470,000 people from areas that will be inundated, Xinhua news agency said, citing Liu Fuyin, head of the city's resettlement department.

The city will also have to move 556 businesses and rebuild 10 million square meters (110 million square feet) of buildings over the same period, Xinhua said.

While large areas along China's Yangtze river will be affected by the massive construction project, Chongqing will be impacted more than any other place and accounts for 85 percent of the one million relocations.

The Three Gorges Dam, the world's biggest hydroelectric scheme, this year will start creating a reservoir that will eventually be more than 600 kilometers (375 miles) long and around 200 meters (660 feet) deep.

The 27-billion-dollar scheme has become mired in controversy, with critics targeting not only forced relocations, alleged rampant corruption and the scheme's possible environmental impact. 

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