| China will launch 10 key infrastructure and environmental projects in its
western region this year and encourage foreign involvement, said Zheng Xinli, spokesman
for the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC). The 10 projects will lay the
foundation for developing China's western regions. These projects have secured funds from
central and local governments, enterprises, banks and overseas investors.
Foreign funds have already been secured for three projects: an elevated light railway
in Chongqing Municipality and two water conservancy hubs in Zipingpu in Sichuan Province
and Shapotou in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The two flood-control projects are expected
to cost about 7.5 billion yuan (US$903 million).
"We have to improve infrastructure and ecological conditions since developing the
western areas is a long-term strategy," Zheng said.
The 10 projects include the construction of a 955-kilometre-long Xi'an-Hefei section of
the Xi'an-Nanjing railway, and a 640 kilometre-long Chongqing-Huaihua railway, with
investment of 23.2 billion yuan (US$2.79 billion) and 18.2 billion yuan (US$2.19 billion),
respectively.
According to the official, China will also build several trunk highways and the
Xianyang International Airport in Xi'an. It will also work to create a regional air
network with Chengdu, Xi'an, Kunming, Lanzhou and Urumqi as hubs.
A 953-kilometre-long gas pipeline will be built to link the Qaidam Basin, a place rich
in natural gas and crude oil from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, to Lanzhou, capital
of Gansu Province. The pipeline will have the capacity to move 2 billion cubic metres of
natural gas annually.
As a major part of development, some 340,000 hectares of farm land along the upper
reaches of the Yangtze River and Yellow River will be reconverted into forest or pasture,
and 430,000 hectares of waste land and hills will be reforested.
The projects also include the building of a potash fertilizer plant in Qinghai,
building schools and improving higher education.
Song Mi, director of the Department of Basic Industries of the SDPC, said at a press
conference yesterday that the central government will increase investment in central and
western areas this year, especially in infrastructure projects such as railways, highways,
and airports.
To facilitate the implementation of developing China's western regions, the country is
expected to introduce a package of new policy incentives to attract more overseas funds
into the central and western regions.
Zhang Xiaoqiang, director of the Department of Foreign Capital Utilization of the SDPC,
said yesterday that the country will open more areas to foreign investment, ease
restrictions on stock-holding for foreign investors, and make substantial progress in
utilizing foreign capital through new means other than establishing overseas-funded
ventures.
The official revealed that China will soon announce a list defining major industries in
the central and western regions so as to better guide overseas investment in these
regions.
He said more flexible ways of using foreign investments such as build-operate-transfer
project financing and transfer of operational rights will be introduced to western areas. |
