Pakistan, July 20 -- China started building a mega-dam Saturday on a river running through Tibet and India, with Premier Li Qiang attending the commencement ceremony, state media said.

Beijing approved the project in December on the river - known as Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet and Brahmaputra in India - linking it to the country's carbon neutrality targets and economic goals in the Tibet region.

"The electricity generated will be primarily transmitted to other regions for consumption, while also meeting local power needs in Tibet," state news Xinhua reported after the groundbreaking ceremony in southeastern Tibet's Nyingchi.

Once built, the dam could dwarf the record-breaking Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in central China - and ha...