Three Gorges Project: Hubei's Economic BoosterThe gigantic water control dam near Three Gorges on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River has contributed an average of 8.6 percentage points to Hubei Province's gross domestic product (GDP) annually since it began construction in 1993.The Three Gorges hydro-electric power project, the largest of its kind in the world, is located near Yichang in central China's Hubei Province. It will require a static investment of 117.6 billion yuan. Once completed, it will help control floods and increase the country's power generating capacity. Chen Shuiwen, head of Hubei Provincial Office for Three Gorges Project, said recently that before building the water control project, bids were invited for 6,099 items inside Hubei Province alone, of which, 4,112 were won by enterprises from Hubei, with the contracts amounting to a total of 27.225 billion yuan. Chen went on to explain that over the past eight years, the annual added value of Hubei's GDP was averaged at 39.571 billion yuan, of which, around 3.4 billion yuan was created by local enterprises by fulfilling the contracts related the Three Gorges Project. The Three Gorges Project areas in Hubei have become the places that have been experiencing fast economic growth, said Chen. From 1992 to the first quarter of this year these areas contracted 1,344 new specific projects which have brought an inflow of 1.77 billion yuan from economically developed parts of the country. While other areas in Hubei have also witnessed notable improvements and progress in infrastructure, urbanization and fast growth in building materials and some special industries. Improved infrastructure in the Three Gorges Area has created favorable conditions for developing tourism. In Hubei 60 percent of its overseas tourism earnings and 20 percent of domestic tourism earnings come from tourist attractions close to the Three Gorges Project, Chen noted. The Three Gorges Project is designed to consist of a 1,983-meter long and 185-meter tall dam and 26 generating units with a combined capacity of 18.2 million kilowatts and an annual output of 84.7 billion kilowatts. The Three Gorges Project will take 17 years to complete. The first batch of generating units are scheduled to be operational in 2003. |
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