IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Gas pipeline construction

China has started construction on a gas pipeline from the western Ningxia Hui autonomous region to the southern Guangdong province, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) said.

The eastern part of the second west-east gas pipeline was approved by the country's State Council, or the cabinet, on November 12. Construction started on December 11 and 12 at four sites in the provinces of Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Guangdong.

The pipeline will stretch 2,477 kilometers from Zhongwei, in the western part of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, to Guangzhou, capital of the southern Guangdong province and cost 93 billion yuan.

Construction on the western section from Zhongwei to Khorgos in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, began in February, and is expected to be finished by 2009.

Tibet's GDP predicted to rise

Tibet's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 10.1 percent year-on-year to reach 39.2 billion yuan in 2008, a senior local official has said.

It would be the 16th year that the Tibet autonomous region has had double-digit economic growth, said QiangbaPuncog, chairman of the regional government.

The fixed assets investment would hit 31 billion yuan, up 14.3 percent from a year earlier, he said.

He said the economic growth was achieved against the backdrop of a string of difficulties this year, including the March 14 riots, the earthquake in Damxung county, the snow disaster in Shannan Prefecture and the global financial crisis.

Tianzhu Bonded Area

Beijing recently began construction of the Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Area, northwest of Beijing Capital International Airport.

With planned area of 5.994 sq km, the bonded area is expected to be an important window for the capital's opening up to the outside.

Enterprises in the bonded area enjoy such preferential policies as tax rebates for exports and no tax for trading within the area.

The first phase of the bonded area will be completed and put into operation in April next year.

Foreign trade drops

The Shanghai Customs reported that November saw the biggest monthly fall in foreign trade since 2001, as the effects of the global financial crisis continue to be felt.

Exports and imports via the Customs fell by 9.7 percent year-on-year in November to reach $45.4 billion, as compared to an average of over $50 billion from January to July.

Nearly one fourth of China's foreign trade, witnessed exports decrease by 2.4 percent in November to $31.4 billion, as compared to a robust growth of 20.8 percent in October.

Imports registered a sharp fall of 22.8 percent to $13.98 billion in November, as compared to a year-on-year increase of 7 percent a month before.

Shenzhen real estate up

Investment in the real estate sector in Shenzhen rose 1.71 percent year-on-year to 38.98 billion yuan during the first 11 months of 2008, of which 28.1 billion yuan were invested in residential buildings, according to statistics released by the Shenzhen municipal bureau of land resources and housing management.

During first 11-month period, 2.71 million sq m of commercial properties were built, down 4.63 percent compared with the same period of last year.

Liaoning steel mills shut

Liaoning province has shut down 452 small-sized steel mills and 80 cement plants so far in 2008 with obsolete capacity elimination totaling 14 million tons, Vice-Governor Liu Guoqiang was quoted by Chinese Business Morning View as saying so.

He said: "These mills are generally high energy cost ones. The province will continue wiping out outdated capacities like small thermal power stations to realize the target set for energy conserving and emissions cuts."

(China Daily 12/29/2008 page10)