IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Xi'an housing loans

The local government of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, plans to offer housing fund loans worth 1.73 billion yuan this year, in a bid to further improve the housing conditions of the local residents.

The city granted housing loans of 1.57 billion yuan in 2008, up 6.51 percent from a year earlier.

As of the end of last year, the accumulated housing fund loans granted in the city reached 6.57 billion yuan.

Meanwhile, the government will also simplify the approval procedures to make it easier for housing fund loan applicants. Individual applicants who have met all the requirements can get the loans within 30 days.

New Shanxi power grid

Shanxi, a coal-rich province in North China, will invest 31 billion yuan on power grid construction from 2009 to 2011.

The money will mainly be invested in the construction of a uhV grid and a 500kV main grid, as well as transformer station upgrade.

Meanwhile, 11 transmit and transformer construction projects, which started in early January, are expected to be completed within this year.

The province targets at transmitting 37 million kW to the rest of the country by 2010.

Shanghai investors

Shanghai will open more areas to overseas investors and improve government services to maintain the inflow of overseas funds this year, said Sha Hailin, chief of the Shanghai municipal commission of commerce.

Sha said the global financial crisis would mean a "comparatively grim" year for the city in terms of luring investment from outside the mainland.

The city achieved a record $17 billion worth of contracted overseas investment in 2008. It achieved a record $10 billion worth of paid-in overseas investment, 10 percent of the national total.

Fujian GDP target

Fujian hopes to have a 10 percent growth in GDP in 2009, said Huang Xiaojing, governor of the province, in his work report to the province's 11th people's congress.

The provincial government's revenue is expected to rise 11 percent, while the fixed-assets-investment targets a 15 percent growth. Meanwhile, the foreign trade is estimated to increase 10 percent, and the direct foreign investment aims to hit $8 billion, said Huang.

Huang also emphasized that the government will expand investment, enhance key infrastructure construction, and stimulate consumption to ensure economic growth.

In 2008, Fujian's GDP surged 13 percent to 1.086 trillion yuan, while the fixed-assets-investment hit 527 billion yuan, representing a 22 percent growth year-on-year.

HK forex reserves up

Hong Kong's foreign exchange reserve hit $182.5 billion at the end of December last year, $16.6 billion more than a month earlier, according to statistics released by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

Hong Kong ranks the eighth in terms of foreign exchange reserve after the mainland, Japan, Russia, China's Taiwan, India, Brazil and South Korea.

The current forex reserve is nearly eight times the currency in circulation.

In addition, the HKMA will issue forex funds worth HK$18 billion in January this year.

(China Daily 01/19/2009 page10)