IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Tibet trade volume up

The foreign trade volume in the Tibet autonomous region reached $89.3 million in the first quarter, up 16.2 percent from the same period of 2007.

Imports stood at $15.09 million, more than three times the comparable figure last year. Exports fell by 9.8 percent to $74.21 million, said the local government.

Tibet has seen great improvement in its infrastructure in the past three decades, especially for cross-border trade, thanks to increased investment from the central government.

Tibet's imports and exports exceeded $1.3 billion in the past five years, almost double that of the previous five years, according to the local government.

Hainan looks to 2028

The southern island province of Hainan recently unveiled a blueprint aiming to build itself into an international tourist destination by 2028.

Chen Cheng, Hainan's vice-governor, said the province will take about 20 years to internationalize its tourism facilities, services, products and improve the environment.

The province will continue to implement its visa-free policies for tourists and open up aviation rights, introduce renowned overseas travel agencies and hotel management corporations, according to the action plans for the long-term goal of a first-class international tourist island.

The State Council has agreed in principle in early April that Hainan should make better use of its advantages as a special economic zone to seek systematic reforms in the tourism industry.

Guangxi Zhuang facelift

The transportation network in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region will be improved over the next five years at a cost of more than 230 billion yuan, said Yang Daoxi, the region's deputy Party secretary.

According to Yang, 115 billion yuan will be spent to begin building 1,450 km of rail lines and complete 1,100 km.

Another 100 billion yuan will go into highways, with work to start on 1,800 km of expressway and finish on 1,700 km of expressway. By 2012, Guangxi will have 100,000 km of roads open to traffic.

For water transport, 12 billion yuan will be invested for harbors and 3 billion yuan for river ports. And 3.5 billion yuan will be spent to improve the two airports in Nanning and Guilin.

Photovoltaic conference

The Chengdu government will host the first forum on photovoltaic industry and new energy development of the western region from June 5 to 7 to promote the development of the photovoltaic industry in the city.

The city government has listed the photovoltaic industry as one of the key industries for its economic development and planned an industry cluster in the Southwest Airport Economic Development Zone in the city's Shuangliu county.

In recent years, a group of enterprises in the sector including Tianwei New Energy, Sichuan Apollo Solar Science and Technology Development Co and Sichuan Chaolei Industry Co have invested in the development zone.

Hong Kong tax cuts

Hong Kong will soon introduce one-off and accelerated tax cuts for environment-friendly machinery and installations.

"A 100-percent deduction under profits tax will be provided in the year of purchase for the capital expenditure incurred on the provision of eligible machinery," a Hong Kong government spokesman says.

The amendments will be made to the tax law upon the passing of a Revenue Bill by the Legislative Council, the government says.

"A deduction under profits tax for 20 percent of the capital expenditure incurred on the construction of eligible installations will be provided in each of the five years starting from the year of acquisition," the spokesman says.

ADB loan for Xinjiang

The Asian Development Bank will provide a $105 million loan to improve infrastructure, address hygiene and environmental concerns in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The project focuses on three areas in Xinjiang - Alashankou, a major trade and transport hub on the border with Kazakhstan, the Kanas scenic region, and Yining City.

For the first phase, four main roads will be built in Yining with 33 local roads to be repaired. The project will also include constructing sanitation facilities, wastewater treatment facilities and improve water supply infrastructure for the city.

Similar developments will be carried out in Alashankou and the Kanas region in the succeeding two phases.

Chongqing-Guangzhou pact

Businesses from Chongqing and Guangzhou signed 20 cooperation projects worth of 1.96 billion yuan last week.

The projects mainly involve automobile, home appliance, pharmaceutical and equipment manufacturing industries, including a 300-million-yuan cooperation project between Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd and Chongqing Taiji Industry (Group) Co Ltd, a 200-million-yuan cooperation project on wind power generating facilities between Guangzhou High Technology Industry Group Co and Chongqing Hengte Automation.

Meanwhile, governments of the two cities signed a framework agreement to promote their economic and trade cooperation. Zhang Xuan, deputy Party secretary of Chongqing, says: "As enterprises are moving from the coastal regions to inland cities in recent years, the two cities need closer cooperation to drive economic development."

Fujian output

The industrial added value of Fujian province totaled 90.27 billion yuan in the first quarter, up 17.6 percent year-on-year, according to the local government.

The growth rate is 3.7 percentage points higher than that of the country's average.

The province's industrial profits reached 12.94 billion yuan, 27.3 percent more than a year ago.

(China Daily 05/03/2008 page10)