IN BRIEF (Page 15)

Railcar makers advance 5%

China CNR Corp and CSR Corp, the nation's largest train makers, advanced more than 5 percent in Shanghai trading yesterday after China Central Television (CCTV) reported China's rail investment will be 745.5 billion yuan ($114.8 billion) this year.

China CNR jumped 6.1 percent to 6.99 yuan, set for its biggest gain since Jan 31, as of 10:12 am. CSR climbed 5.3 percent to 6.95 yuan, the most since Jan 19.

A total of 600 billion yuan of the investment will be spent on infrastructure, CCTV said on May 6, citing Ministry of Railways spokesman Wang Yongping. China won't halt high-speed rail projects, Wang was cited as saying.

Datang to build solar-thermal plant

China Datang Corp Renewable Power Co, the clean-energy unit of State-owned China Datang Corp, won a bid to build a 50-megawatt solar-thermal plant in Inner Mongolia, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the regional Energy Bureau.

Datang expects to invest at least 1 billion yuan ($154 million) in the Ordos project, the report said. The construction schedules weren't disclosed.

Yangtze River gets less water

China's Yangtze River, site of the world's largest hydropower dam, received 40 percent less water supply at its upstream section this month compared with historical levels in the past three years, China Three Gorges Corp said in a statement.

China Three Gorges is releasing water held by the Three Gorges dam at a rate of 7,000 cubic meters per second to ease a drought downstream, the Hubei-based dam operator said Saturday. The move to increase supply flows may last three to four days, it said.

The water level behind the dam will fall below 155 meters after the operation, Three Gorges Corp said. The company had planned last year for the water level to reach 155 meters on May 25, according to the statement.

Fixed-line carrier sees profit up

China Telecom Corp, the country's biggest fixed-line carrier, said first-quarter profit gained 8.1 percent as it added more users at its mobile-phone unit.

Net profit rose to 4.62 billion yuan ($710 million), from 4.27 billion yuan a year earlier, the Beijing-based company said in a statement earlier.

Chairman Wang Xiaochu boosted mobile subscribers 61 percent last year, as China Telecom raced to catch market leaders China Mobile Ltd. and China Unicom.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 05/10/2011 page15)