China Post is to issue special stamps entitled Hydropower Development on Jun 28, 2022. Jointly planned by China Post and China Three Gorges Corporation, this set of stamps consists of 2 pieces, the designs of which are respectively named Wudongde Hydropower Station and Baihetan Hydropower Station. The denomination of the stamps is 2.40 yuan. The planned circulation is 6.8 million sets.

Wudongde Hydropower Station in the first design of the stamps is located on the main stream of the Jinsha River at the junction of Luquan county in Yunnan Province and Huidong county in Sichuan Province. It is the seventh largest hydropower station in the world and the fourth largest in China. Its first batch of electricity-generation units were put into operation on June 29, 2020, and all units became fully operational on June 16, 2021. Baihetan Hydropower Station, the second design, is located on the main stream of the Jinsha River on the border of Ningnan county in Sichuan Province and Qiaojia county in Yunnan Province. Its first batch of units began generating power on June 28, 2021, and all will be in operation in 2022. When completed, it will become the world's second largest hydropower station after the Three Gorges Dam. These two hydropower stations are the two energy infrastructure projects with the largest installed capacity that have begun construction and put in operation in China since the 18th National Congress of the CPC. They are also major projects of the country in implementing the west-east power transmission program and improving the energy mix. Together with Xiluodu Hydropower Station, Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station, the Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba Dam, they constitute the world largest clean energy corridor, and provide strong momentum for the green development of China's economy and society.

This set of stamps applies horizontal and vertical formats, depicting with unique watercolor painting techniques the majesty of the two hydropower stations when the dams are open to discharge water. The stamps take turquoise as the main color, the sparkling water surface at the upstream of the dams and the spectacular scene of misty clouds hovering while discharging water at the downstream form contrast between the static and dynamic, and thus create a strong visual impact.

This set of stamps is printed with offset technology by the Anti-counterfeit and Secret-keeping Technology Printing Company of Henan Province. 9-color offset printing combined with surface treatment technology makes the picture all the more meticulous, full, lively and multi-dimensional. This set of stamps records the first time that China Post has printed a QR code with traceable information on the sheet of stamps, which can facilitate information sharing and help philatelists get more knowledge about the stamps.  With the China Post app, the WeChat Mall for philatelic products in the official WeChat account and the WeChat mini program of China Post Group, WeChat mini program “Encyclopedia of China Philately and Stamps” and other channels, philatelists can scan the QR code for the information about the stamp printing house, detailed introduction, stamp number, number of scans and so on.

This set of stamps will be available for six months at designated postal outlets nationwide, online mall of China Philately (https://jiyou.11185.cn), the mobile app of China Post, the WeChat Mall for philatelic products in the official WeChat account and the WeChat mini program of China Post Group. To present more information about the stamps, China Post will release the digital contents through the WeChat mini program “Encyclopedia of China Philately and Stamps”, where philatelists can learn more about the stamps via its AR function.