IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Bright prospects for China, Africa trade

China and Africa face "historic opportunities" as the Chinese market for basic industrial materials is saturated, while less-developed African countries are crying out for them, according to a foreign ministry official. Cooperation in what the government refers to as "industrial production capacity" will not only help the nation's economic development, but also meet African countries' demand at this relatively early stage of their industrialization, Lin Songtian, head of the foreign ministry's department of African affairs, told Xinhua.

Gas production beginsat China-built plant

A Chinese bank-funded gas processing plant built for Ghana at Atuabo, some 218 kilometers west of the capital, Accra, saw its first full gas production on April 8, local media has reported.

The facility, which was built by China's SINOPEC Petroleum, consists of an offshore pipeline, the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant and an onshore pipeline.

From the end of March the plant, with a capacity to produce 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, has started supplying about 80 million per day to the Aboadze Thermal Plant.

Testing of light railway continues in Ethiopia

Testing of the Addis Ababa light railway, which began on Feb 1, has processed without any technical problems, said Behailu Sintayehu, project manager of the Addis Ababa Light Railway Transit Project.

The project manager spoke during a test ride of the 9-kilometer distance between Kality and Meskel Square, in the south section of the corridor.

The $475 million electrified railway project, with two lines with a total length of 32 km, is being built by the China Railway Group Limited in the capital of the East African nation.

The Addis Ababa light railway is one of the large development projects in the country's five-year growth and transformation plan, which ends this year.

Nuclear plant gets approval from regulator

The fifth and sixth units of the Fuqing nuclear power plant, which uses the Hualong One reactor design, known as third-generation nuclear technology, got the green light from the National Development and Reform Commission on April 8. This also signals a step toward export of Chinese nuclear technology, industry sources said.

The concrete for the reactor at the nuclear project in China's Fujian province is likely to be poured in the first half of this year, the source said, adding that two-thirds of the equipment purchase order is complete.

The approval, which came after construction began at the Hongyan River nuclear power plant in March, is set to make Fuqing the first nuclear project that will use third-generation nuclear technology after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan four years ago.

Transport investment surged in Jan-Feb

China invested 176.3 billion yuan ($28.7 billion; 26.3 billion euros) in the construction of railways, roads and waterways in the first two months of 2015, up 16.9 percent year-on-year, the latest data revealed. Railway investment during the period hit 46.2 billion yuan, up 8.2 percent; road investment stood at 116.4 billion yuan, up 15.9 percent, while waterway investment reached 13 billion yuan, up 85.5 percent year-on-year, according to data released on April 3 by the Ministry of Transport.

Passenger traffic at Chinese airports rises

Passenger arrivals and departures recorded at Chinese airports hit 831.5 million in 2014, representing year-on-year growth of 10.2 percent, official data said. More than 760.6 million trips were recorded for domestic routes, up 10.1 percent year-on-year, while the number of international trips stood at 70.9 million, up 11.7 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Airports in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou accounted for 28.3 percent of all trips last year.

Cloud Live defaults on $38.8m bond payment

Internet technology company Cloud Live Tech Group became the second listed company in China to default on a corporate bond payment, failing to repay some 240 million yuan ($38.8 million) to investors. The default will once again throw a spotlight on the efficacy of China's corporate bankruptcy law, and the government's willingness to let investors incur losses when companies go under.

Overseas deals gather momentum

Companies from China made 35 overseas acquisitions in March, with 23 revealing the deal volume. The disclosed trading volume reached $7.464 billion, up 50.57 percent compared with February and 400.63 percent from a year earlier, according to a monthly report released by Morning Whistle Group on April 7. The surge in March trade volume was mainly due to two overseas acquisitions in the automotive industry, which accounted for 72 percent of the total trade volume.

BYD to double energy storage unit deliveries

BYD Co, the Chinese carmaker partially owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, said it expects to double the deliveries of energy-storage products this year on the back of rising global demand. BYD delivered energy-storage units last year with a capacity to store 57 megawatt hours, enough to power industrial parks, according to an e-mailed statement. Besides domestic sales, BYD exports its storage units to markets including the United States, Germany, Japan and Australia, the company said.

Beijing Hyundai builds factory in Hebei

Beijing Hyundai Motor Co Ltd started the construction of a new factory in Cangzhou, Hebei province, on April 3. This is Hyundai's first and only factory outside Beijing, with a total investment of 12 billion yuan ($1.92 billion). Construction is expected to finish by the end of 2016. An economy vehicle model and an updated SUV model will be produced in the new factory. They are two best-selling models in markets neighboring Cangzhou. About 300,000 vehicles and 200,000 engines are to be made annually.

Jiangxi ready to mine huge rare earth deposit

The super-large niobium-tantalum deposit located in Hengfeng County in East China's Jiangxi province is now ready for mining, the Jiangxi Nonferrous Metal Geological Exploration Bureau said on April 7. The rare earth deposit has nearly 30,000 metric tons of proven tantalum reserves, 46,000 tons of niobium reserves, and more than 420,000 tons of rubidium reserves, with its potential economic value exceeding 50 billion yuan ($8.07 billion), said the bureau.

Plan to improve rural substandard housing

The government will take more steps this year to renovate substandard houses in rural areas, according to a joint statement issued on April 5 from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner. Assistance will be given first to poor rural families who live in the most dilapidated houses or earthquake-prone areas to alleviate severe risks to life and property, the statement said. Local governments have been urged to complete the renovation work this year, and efforts should also be made to improve the use of government subsidies, it said.

China Daily-Agencies

(China Daily Africa Weekly 04/10/2015 page18)