IN BRIEF (Page 17)

Construction set for nuclear plant

With the establishment of Sanming Nuclear Power Co Ltd late last month, construction on Fujian's third nuclear power plant, located in Jiangle, Sanming, is expected to soon begin.

The company is jointly funded by the China Nuclear Industry Group, Fujian Investment and Development Group and the Sanming city government.

Site location and surveys for the project started in May 2006, with feasibility research completed in 2008.

The power station is designed to help alleviate the electricity shortage in Fujian, which has little additional potential for hydropower generation and is far from the nation's major coalmines.

Two other nuclear power stations, in Ningde and Fuqing, are now under construction in the province.

Support for airport construction

The State Civil Aviation Administration will give strong support to Fujian's program to construct the Western Straits Economic Zone, Li Jiaxiang, head of the administration, told top officials of Fujian.

Fujian Party chief Sun Chunlan and Governor Huang Xiaojing recently visited the administration to talk about cooperation on new airports in Fujian.

The administration promised to increase investment in building or renovating four airports in the province and make it a civil aviation hub for the direct links between the mainland and Taiwan.

It also pledged to increase air routes between cities in Fujian and the rest of the country.

Construction of a new airport in Sanming in west Fujian and the renovation of the airports in Xiamen, Jinjiang and Wuyishan will begin late this year.

Fujian now has international airports in Fuzhou and Xiamen and smaller airports in Jinjiang, Liancheng, Wuyishan and Sanming. In addition, there are also plans for building airports in Ningde, Putian, Zhangzhou and Pingtan.

Entrepreneurs eye opportunities

Bosses of some of the nation's big enterprises, including Lenovo Chairman Liu Chuanzhi, Dalian Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin and Fanhai Group Chairman Lu Zhiqiang, paid a visit to Fujian earlier this month to find new business opportunities in the province.

They were invited by Fujian Party chief Sun Chunlan and Governor Huang Xiaojing to attend a meeting about the province's latest efforts in developing the Western Straits Economic Zone.

Party chief Sun told the entrepreneurs that after the economic zone was approved by the State Council last year as part of the national development plan, it has attracted a wide attention from business circles on the mainland and in Taiwan, as well as the rest of the world.

The guests said they were impressed by the business environment in Fujian and promised to begin new projects or increase investment in their existing facilities in the province.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/27/2010 page17)