IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Railway rebuilding

Construction of Chengdu-Dujiangyan passenger railway, one of the key post-disaster reconstruction projects, started on November 4.

The 66-km railway runs from the west loop hub railway in Chengdu, via Pixian county to Dujiangyan city, with 12 railway stations, 19 bridges.

The Ministry of Railways and the Chengdu municipal government jointly invested 13.3 billion yuan in the project, which is scheduled to be completed in a year and a half.

Nansha Port Area approved

Nansha Bonded Port Area, in Guangzhou, has been officially approved by the State Council as the ninth bonded port area in the country.

The 7.06-sq-km area will be comprised of a dock operating area, a logistics processing area and a comprehensive port supporting service area.

Guangdong exports down

Exports from private enterprises in Guangdong province increased 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year. That compares to a 7.3 percent increase recorded by the province's total export growth during the period.

Nearly one third of Guangdong's export-oriented companies saw their exports shrink during January through September this year. Guangdong's exports to the Untied States grew 9 percent, down 30.7 percentage points from a year ago.

Textile exports were hit hardest, recording a 57.5 percent decrease in the first three quarters.

Shanghai exports, imports dip

Shanghai's exports and imports increased 20.5 percent in the first three quarters of this year, a decrease of 3.6 percentage point year-on-year.

Shanghai customs officials blamed the decrease on the appreciation of the yuan, the slump in overseas demand and the rise of raw material prices. In the period, Shanghai's imports and exports accounted for 13.1 percent of the country's total, down from 12.6 percent a year earlier.

Construction starts

Construction of an industrial port, focusing on attracting Japanese investments, has started in Hunchun, Jilin province.

The 5-sq-km park, with an investment of 30 billion yuan, is expected to create a huge industrial cluster, including electronic products, auto accessories, biomedicine and upscale knitwear businesses.

Huichun neighbors Russia the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and is also close to Japan, separated by only a seaway.

Phosphate deal

The government of Leshan, Sichuan province, has signed a deal with Israel Chemicals Ltd (ICL) to launch a phosphate chemical base in the resource-rich city.

ICL intends to form a complete phosphate industry chain covering phosphorite, hydropower station, yellow phosphorus and fine phosphorus chemicals in the base, which will produce phosphorous flame retardants, phosphoric acid, phosphorus pentasulfide and glyphosate. The initial investment will amount to $350 million.

ICL is the largest chemical company in Israel, and the biggest Dead Sea salt supplier in the world.

600 billion yuan for Sichuan

Sichuan province plans to attract a total investment of 600 billion yuan to quake-stricken areas.

Huang Xiaoxiang, deputy governor of Sichuan province, said 685 reconstruction projects, ranging from infrastructure construction to cultural and tourism projects, will need a total investment of 601.7 billion yuan.

Sichuan was hit hard by the May 12 earthquake and now the government is ramping up its efforts to attract investments and regain investor's confidence.

(China Daily 11/10/2008 page10)