A controversial plan to divert water from the Jinsha River to the arid centre of Yunnan has yet to be finalised and submitted to Beijing for approval, an official at the State Environmental Protection Administration says.

Zhu Xingxiang, director of Sepa's environmental impact assessment department, said the 50 billion yuan diversion scheme had a long way to go before it could be implemented.

'I have not seen the revised plan yet,' he said at a green forum yesterday.