West China Expects Investment UpsurgeChinese economists and officials have predicted that the western part of China is to witness an upsurge of investment in the coming five to 10 years.Exploitation of oil, water, non-ferrous metals and tourism resources in the region will attract a large group of investors from overseas, said Li Zibin, deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group under the State Council for the Development of the Western Regions. Major projects to be launched this year include the Qinghai- Tibet Railway, the west-to-east natural gas pipeline project, the west-to-east electricity transmission project, highway trunk roads and key water-control projects, which need a total investment of 300 billion yuan. The central government has forecast that an estimated three trillion yuan will be used for infrastructure and other projects in western China in the 2001-2005 period. Up to now, more than 60 of the world's top 500 transnational companies have invested in western China. The influx of foreign investment into western China is now faster than that into eastern China, according to Li. Li believed that after China enters the World Trade Organization, western China will become the most attractive area in the country for foreign investors. |
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