Harbin, capital of northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, is building a logistics zone, which is mainly designed to facilitate Sino-Russian trade ties.

With an area of 515,000 sq m, the zone is expected to be the largest and the most comprehensive logistics zone within Heilongjiang, which has a 3,000-km border with Russia.

The zone is adjacent to Harbin's exit of the Beijing-Harbin expressway and is only 2.8 km from the Harbin southern Railway Station and 30 km away from the Harbin Taiping Airport.

The zone is expected to be completed within three years with an investment of 800 million yuan.

Heilongjiang accounts for one fifth of Sino-Russian trades.

Harboring high hopes

East China's Fujian province will invest 50 billion yuan in the coming five years in building harbors, in anticipation of Xiamen and Fuzhou, two major cities in the province, becoming the first ports to have direct sea cargo links with Taiwan province.

The funding for the harbours would account for one-fifth of the total fixed-asset investment in expanding Fujian's transport network.

No money woes in Yiwu

Yiwu, a world-famous small commodities market in Zhejiang province, seems unscathed so far despite economic woes in the United States and Europe.

The number of customs declarations and containers increased 26.5 percent and 28.4 percent respectively in the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period in 2007. September 11 even saw exports of 3,300 twenty-foot equivalent units, hitting a new record in a single day for Yiwu.

The United States remains Yiwu's largest export destination, but orders from Middle East, Africa and Latin America are growing faster and those from India, Russia and Brazil have nearly doubled.

Anhui nuke power plan

Anhui province has finished a feasibility study on building the first nuclear power station in the province as part of its effort to quench the pent-up demand both with the province as well as in the nearby Yangtze River Delta.

With a total investment of nearly 50 billion yuan, the station, located in Wuhu, is expected to have an annual electricity generating capacity of around 30 billion kWh once it becomes operational.

Currently coal-fired thermal power accounts for 95 percent of the region's electricity and emissions of greenhouse gas has been damaging the environment in the province.

New Hegang coal reserve

Recent drilling has found Hegang, Heilongjiang province, has a coal reserve of 319 million tons

The discovery is the result of a State-sponsored exploration project.

Exploitation of the mine, following the discovery, is expected to ease the current energy resources pressure on the province and the whole Northeastern China.

New tunes in Yichang

Parsons Music, a major Hong Kong-based music store, is investing 500 million yuan to establish a piano manufacturing base in Yichang, Hubei province, the biggest of its kind on the Chinese mainland.

The first phase of the plant is expected to be completed within three years and will be able to produce 70,000 pianos, 200,000 guitars and 20,000 violins per year, with annual sales of 850 million yuan.

Besides production, the base also includes three centers for R D, selling and training, plus a music school.

$40 million for cement

Merrill Lynch and Lunar Capital have invested $40 million in a cement manufacturer in Sichuan province.

The capital injection will enable the privately-held Sichuan Zhiquan Special Cement in western Sichuan to complete its 3,000-ton-per-day cement production line in Baihua, which has been damaged by the May 12 earthquake.

Another 3,000-ton-per-day production line in Shiyang will also be completed soon.

The company has already obtained an approval to upgrade its annual capacity from the current two million tons to ten million by 2010. Its parent company, Suchuan Zhiquan Group is scheduled to go public overseas in 2010.

Demand for cement in Sichuan has been rising due to the rebuilding efforts after the quake.

(China Daily 10/27/2008 page10)