HONG KONG: Earthquake-stricken Wenchuan county in Sichuan is seeking investment as a component of efforts to facilitate post-calamity recovery and reconstruction as well as to bolster local economic development.

The Wenchuan county government hopes to win 10 billion yuan worth of investment through 38 projects it tabled to Hong Kong businesses yesterday. The projects cover six areas ranging from the electronic industry to metallurgy and agriculture.

"The preferential policies and abundant natural resources in the region are conducive to Wenchuan's economic take-off," said Qing Lidong, the Party Secretary of Wenchuan County.

China has invested 360 billion yuan in post-earthquake reconstruction in the year since the earthquake - one-third of the total planned, and hopes to complete all work within two years.

Total planned investment amounts to about one trillion yuan and covers more than 200,000 projects. It includes 300 billion yuan of direct investment from the central government.

Wenchuan has already completed rebuilding and construction of 80 percent of planned rural houses and 20 percent of the urban housing, according to Qing.

Prior to the earthquake, Wenchuan county contributed two-thirds of the total industrial output of Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in Sichuan. A magnitude 8.0 quake hit the region last year, with Wenchuan having been the worst stricken. The earthquake left Wenchuan almost totally in ruins, including virtually all infrastructure that connected the region with other areas.

Only with sufficient funding can reconstruction of essential infrastructure, such as railroads, highways and airports, be completed and facilities restored and returned to service, Qing said.

The quake killed more than 69,000 people and left nearly 18,000 missing, more than 374,000 injured and millions homeless.

"We are here also to express our gratitude for all the help that the people of Hong Kong gave us during and after the quake," said Wu Zegang, governor of Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture, at yesterday's projects promotion conference, in which over one hundred representatives from the Hong Kong business community participated.

(HK Edition 07/30/2009 page4)