Guangzhou Airport to Float Stock for RMB20 Billion Project

The Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Co Ltd said this week it plans to issue stocks to raise funds needed for construction of its new Guangzhou International Airport.

The gigantic project plus a 30 kilometer airport expressway is expected to cost more than RMB20 billion.

Company officials said they are speeding up preparation work and are going through stock flotation procedures.

The shareholding company with a registered asset of RMB600 million, is now seeking to go public in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The new airport is to be constructed and managed by the shareholding company, which is made up of domestic and overseas investors.

Guangzhou is expected to become a global aviation hub in southern China after the airport is completed.

Lin Shusen, mayor of the provincial capital, said construction of the new airport is of great significance to building the city into a big aviation port. The prosperous Guangdong Province fringes Hong Kong and Macau.

The airport covers an area of 21,840 mu (1,456 hectares) and is expected to officially start large-scale construction later this year. The project is to be completed within two years.

The international airport would be supplementary to the busy Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The municipal government has also opened a multi-channel fund-raising effort at home and abroad, Lin said.

Infrastructural facilities for the project have been completed, paving the way for the official start of construction.

More than 20,000 people from 6,000 farming families in nine villages have been relocated from the planned site in the northern part of the city.

Properties covering an area of over one million square meters have also been pulled down and moved elsewhere.

The current Guangzhou Baiyun International airport is already one of the busiest airports in China, dealing with about 13 million passengers each year.

The new airport is designed to handle more than 27 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of cargo annually.

Located about 30 kilometers away from the city proper, the project includes two runways, a 300,000-square-meter terminal, a cargo transportation station, an airport hotel, an elevated railway and an expressway linked to downtown Guangzhou.

Construction of the airport expressway is to formally start construction next month.

Domestic loans mainly contribute to the total investment of more than RMB5.1 billion.



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