Chinese firm to build electrical substation in Sudan's state

KHARTOUM, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- China XD Group signed on Sunday a contract with the Sudanese government to build an electrical substation in Al-Fula, the capital of Sudan's West Kordofan State, to connect cities in the state with the national power grid.

Sudanese Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim, representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan and officials from West Kordofan State attended the signing ceremony in Sudan's capital Khartoum.

"At the recent China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, China promised to expand the relationship with Sudan. We hope that this relationship will help us develop the country's infrastructure and achieve development in various fields," Ibrahim said at the ceremony, describing Sudan's cooperation with China as "productive."

For his part, Guo Hu, the commercial counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Sudan, pledged to continue encouraging Chinese companies to invest in Sudan.

Zhang Yanwen, general manager of China XD Group for North Africa and the Middle East, said the project undertaken by his company in Sudan will contribute to "upgrading the local people's living standard and enhancing the region's economy, development and cooperation."

The project is set to be completed in six months at a cost of 9.4 million U.S dollars.

Considered one of the strategic projects increasing electrical generation in Sudan, the Al-Fula substation is expected to produce 450 megawatts of electricity and provide electricity for large areas in West Kordofan State in southwestern Sudan.