IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Dongshan development

Fujian province is stepping up its efforts to develop Dongshan Island, China's sixth largest sea island, into an international tourism site.

In the second half of this year, two five-star hotels and two four-star hotels will start construction in the island.

Last November, Dongshan county government earmarked 18 million yuan to invite bids for its tourism development strategy plan worldwide. It now plans to invest 500 million yuan to build a seaside hot springs resort, and 3 billion yuan to build a leisure resort around its Mazu temple.

Fired-up in Tongling

Tongling city in Anhui province recently launched a set of coal-fired thermal plants after securing an approval from the National Development and Reform Commission.

With 4.2 billion yuan investment, the new set of power plants will hit an annual power generating capacity at 10 billion kWh and notch up 3.7 billion yuan sales revenue every year.

Guiyang ups agriculture

Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province, plans to allocate 2 billion yuan in the next five years to stimulate the development of eight ecological agriculture industries: pork, dairy, poultry, floral, orchards, Chinese medicine, green tea, and silkworms.

The city's agriculture bureau said that the stockbreeding industry is expected to attract 867.6 million yuan investment in the next five years, and the city will increase 600 reproduction bases in the next four years.

The city also plans to increase 1,067 hectares of flower planting areas, 7,333 hectares of orchards and 8,267 hectares of Chinese medicine planting areas, 6,667 hectares of silkworm colonies, and 7,000 hectares of tea plantations.

More beef for Xining

Xining, capital of Qinghai province, plans to develop 10 cattle reproduction centers this year to bolster the city's beef supply.

The city's government will earmark 150,000 yuan for infrastructure construction and equipment for the cattle breeding centers with 300 head and 250,000 yuan subsidiaries to the cattle bases raising more than 500 head. The government also encourages the cattle farmers to increase their research and development work and has offered 30,000 yuan to their disease precaution and breeding improvement programs.

(China Daily 06/16/2008 page10)