IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Nanning biotech base

Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, will be home to a national hi-tech industrial base for the biotech industry, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Nanning plans to build a national base for biomass fuels as well as a complex integrating modern Chinese medicine, bio-manufacture and bio-agriculture within 15 years.

It is expected that by 2020, the biotech industry's turnover will reach 153 billion yuan, accounting for 51 percent of Nanning's total output, and the output of biomass fuels will reach 58 billion yuan.

Tourism focus after storms

Guizhou province will strengthen the development of the tourism industry to make up for economic losses during the early snow havoc. Of the 19 provinces affected by the fierce weather, Guizhou was one of the worst hit, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

Shi Zongyuan, the province's Party chief, said that the province will give priority to the tertiary industries, especially tourism.

Guizhou aims to increase tourism income by 10 billion yuan this year through attracting more inbound and domestic tourists.

Second Fujian nuclear plant

Construction of the second nuclear power plant in Fujian province will begin in November.

Six generating units, each with an installed capacity of 1 million kw, will be built at the plant. The first phase of the development involves installing two generating units, which will begin operation in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Ningde nuclear plant, Fujian's first plant based at the northeastern part of the coastal province, has been under construction since February.

Low-cost housing in Tibet

The government of the Tibet autonomous region plans to allocate 465 million yuan for low-cost housing starting this year to improve living standards, especially for low-income households.

The construction of 4,560 houses will be completed by the end of this year, with floor space totaling 200,000 sq m, says Chen Jin, head of the Tibet construction department.

Tibet plans to provide housing for 52,000 farmers and herders this year, as part of a project that began in 2006 to build homes for 220,000 families.

World Bank's Gansu loan

The World Bank has granted $38.4 million in loans to help Gansu province achieve sustainable tourism development.

The money will be used to restore and conserve nine natural and cultural heritage sites along the Gansu section of the Silk Road. The loans will also cover training local officials and program managers related to site conservation.

New rail link approved

A new high-speed rail link between the capital cities of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Guangdong province has been approved by the central government.

The construction of the 559 km railway will take four and a half years to complete, with a total investment of 29.5 billion yuan.

Trains on the high-speed link will have a maximum speed of 250 km per hour, cutting the travel time between two cities from 12 to 3 hours.

Sewage treatment plant

Shanghai will have the largest sewage treatment plant in the country by the end of this year.

The municipal government has spent 2.2 billion yuan to renovate and expand the Bailonggang plant in Shanghai's southern suburbs, close to the estuary of the Yangtze River.

The plant will begin operation soon after construction is finished, and will have a daily processing capacity of 2 million c m, about one-third of the total amount of wastewater treated in the city every day.

(China Daily 03/31/2008 page10)