IN BRIEF (Page 5)

New Lead-zinc mine

A giant lead-zinc mine was recently discovered in Lanping Bai and Pumi autonomous county of Nujiang Lisu autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, with potential reserves of the two metals amounting to over 15 million tons. Statistics from the Yunnan provincial land and resources department showed that the lead-zinc mine, located 18 km from Lanping county town, has a combined grade of lead and zinc reaching 9.44 percent and is the largest mine of its kind in Asia in terms of reserves.

Lead, zinc purchase

Shaanxi province is buying a total of 77,000 tons of refined lead and zinc from four local smelters as an ad hoc reserve to support smelters that suffer from weak demand, an official at one of the smelters said recently.

Shaanxi Nonferrous Metals Co, owned by the Shaanxi government, has agreed to pay 11,200 yuan a ton to buy refined zinc and 12,900 yuan a ton for refined lead.

Guangzhou's hotels

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, will spend 2.4 billion yuan to refurbish 61 hotels in preparation for the 16th Asian Games, the China Hospitality News reported.

The Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC) is selecting hotel management companies to provide accommodation services for the event.

Credit to Shenzhen

China Development Bank (CDB) recently signed an agreement with the government of Shenzhen to provide a 200-billion-yuan credit line. CDB will extend the loans over the next five years to help the city develop its hi-tech and cultural sectors, improve infrastructure and ease the financing problems of small- and medium-sized companies. More financing for those companies "will help the businesses expand their domestic and overseas markets", said Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng.

Property deals up

Shanghai saw property transaction volume hit 658,500 sq m the week of March 16 to 22, an increase of 18.68 percent from the previous week, according to E-House China.

Residential property transactions hit 396,200 sq m, surging 22.37 percent from a week earlier. The average property price reached 9,787 yuan per sq m, down 2.39 percent from a week earlier. The average price for residential properties was 12,334 yuan per sq m, a decline of 1.39 percent.

Tibet tourists

The Tibet autonomous region will reopen areas that have been closed to foreign guests and to those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in April, according to the Tibetan Tourism Bureau. It is estimated that tourists coming to Tibet will increase by at least 30 percent, because the period beginning in late April is the best season to travel in Tibet. Tibet currently has over 300 scenic spots for tourists to visit.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 03/30/2009 page5)