IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Guangxi Zhuang speeds up

With a hefty 300 billion yuan investment, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region will make transport a priority in the coming five years.

Guangxi will build 2,180 km of railways and 1,800 km of highways ahead of 2012, with 14 highways linking neighboring provinces and nations.

Guangxi also aims to increase its port handling capability to 230 million tons before 2012, as well as expand two airports, one in the capital city Nanning, and one in the tourist city Guilin.

New wildlife center

A wildlife research center has been set up at the Hol Xil Natural Reserve in Qinghai province on the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau.

The center, the highest in the country, is jointly set up by the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Hol Xil Natural Reserve Administration. It is located at the Wudaoliang wildlife protection station, where Tibetan antelopes cross Qinghai-Tibet railway during annual migration.

"The site is expected to attract more researchers to the area with its better technical and logistic support," said Cega, director of the Administration.

Scientists from CAS will carry out research on the breeding of rare animals and human activities' impact on wildlife, Cega said.

More wind farms in Gansu

Gansu province will have two more wind farms in Jiuquan, as China Energy Conservation Investment Corp has planned the investment.

The wind farms, involving a total investment of 3.6 billion yuan, will have combined installed capacity of 400,000 kilowatts.

Construction started in July and operations are expected to begin in 2010, the company said.

The two wind farms are expected to save 500,000 tons of coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 854,000 tons per year, according to the company.

Wireless cities

China has unveiled a wireless city plan for 10 cities. The cities are Beijing, Tianjin, Qingdao, Wuhan, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Yangzhou.

Beijing will have the largest rollout of a wireless network. At present, the wireless network in Beijing has covered 100 sq km, including the Second Ring, the Third Ring, the CBD commercial district, the Financial Street area and Zhongguancun.

By the end of 2009, the 625 sq km of urban areas within the Fifth Ring will complete their wireless network coverage and by the end of 2010, wireless broadband access will be available in all urban areas and suburban areas in Beijing.

Shanghai bridge building

Shanghai has started construction of a 7.2 km bridge, which is part of 52 km expressway connecting the city's island county Chongming and Jiangsu province.

The six-lane expressway, including a 31 km local section, is the final phase of the Shanghai-Chongming-Jiangsu Connection Project.

Upon completion in 2010, the 7.6-billion-yuan expressway will cut traveling time from Shanghai to northern Jiangsu cities such as Haimen, Nantong and Qidong from about two hours to less than one hour.

Chongming Island sits in the center of the mouth of the Yangtze River.

Power shortfall in Shandong

Shandong province faces a power shortfall of maximum 10.2 million kw, nearly one third of total power demand, mainly due to coal shortages.

Major power plants in Qingdao and Weifang have shut down five generators with total capacity of over 1.76 mln kilowatts as of July 28.

Around 70 percent of the coal supply in the eastern Chinese province is externally sourced from Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Henan provinces, among others.

Furthermore, the low quality of thermal coal has led to rising maintenance, with a total of 34 generators with capacity of 5.8 million kw shut down.

(China Daily 08/18/2008 page10)