Investment in Three-Gorges Project Kept Under Effective ControlInvestment for the Yangtze River three-Gorges Project has been brought under effective control and the total fund is likely to be less than estimated, according to information provided by the Three-Gorges Project Development Corporation.The Three-Gorges Project is by far the biggest water conservancy and hydropower scheme in the world. The static investment is 90.09 billion yuan according to State approved budgets, of which 50.09 billion yuan is for the pivotal project and 40 billion yuan for migrating local residents. When the project entered a preparation period in 1993, it was predicted that investment added due to price rises during the 17-year-long construction would hit 74.9 billion yuan, plus 38.9 billion yuan for loan interests. Taken all the three factors into consideration, the total investment would amount to 203.9 billion yuan. During 6 years construction, thanks to the State's macro-control policy on the national economy, increase of prices dropped and interests were lowered successively. In addition, the systems of responsibility of legal person, the invitation and submission of bids, as well as contract administration have been adopted for the construction, which served to reduce the project costs. As a result, 4 billion yuan was saved in the 1994-97 first-phase construction. By the end of July 2000, a total of 52.389 billion yuan was used, of which 25.977 billion yuan was for the project itself. Officials from the Ministry of Finance, National Auditing Administration, and Supervision Group for the project have conducted inspection, follow-up auditing and examination of the use of funds for the project, with the conclusion that investment in the Three-Gorges Project has not been diverted for other purposes. |
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