Addressing a press conference yesterday, Huang Weihong, director-general of the Guang-dong Provincial Commission of Development Planning, said prestigious foreign and domestic consultant companies are now conducting feasibility studies for the gigantic projects.

According to Huang, the top priority is the building of two light rail networks - the Guangzhou Airport Light Rail Line and Guangzhou-Foshan-Shunde-Panyu Light Rail Line.

The two projects will start construction before 2005.

The province is also negotiating with the governments in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) to eventually link Guangdong's metro and light rail networks to transportation systems in the two SARs, furthering economic ties among the cities in the South China region.

Huang said the amount of investment needed to complete the projects is huge.

The province will focus fund raising efforts on the market, he said, adding that domestic and overseas companies are currently being encouraged to join hands in construction and management of the projects.

Bordering Hong Kong and Macao, the Pearl River Delta - which includes major cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Shunde and Huizhou - is now one of the most prosperous and economically dynamic regions in the country.

As part of the massive province-wide transportation effort, Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, which has already one subway line in operation, is accelerating construction of a subway network that will eventually consist of seven lines with a total length of 206 kilometers.

In addition to Metro Line Two, which started construction in 1999 and is expected to be fully completed in 2003, a third line will begin construction this year.

The 32.4-kilometre Line Three, which consists of 23 stations, will run from the city's Tianhe Railway Station and cross the Pearl River to the city's Panyu District, located at the mouth of the Pearl River.

According to city transportation officials, operation of Line Three will benefit more than 100,000 residents living along the line.

Plans are in the works for further subway lines that will link the city proper with the new Guangzhou International Airport, Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone and Guangzhou Free Trade Zone in the eastern part of the city, as well as the suburban cities and districts.

Shenzhen Special Economic Zone will also formally start construction of its first subway line project next month.

The 18-station subway line, which will ultimately cost 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.28 billion), is expected to be built and operational in four years.

The line will start at the city's Luohu and Huanggan checkpoints, which lie on the Hong Kong SAR border, and cross Shenzhen's business-oriented Futian and Luohu districts to end in the northern part of the city.

In the meantime, Guangdong authorities are doing preliminary work for construction of a bridge across the mouth of the Pearl River that would link Zhuhai Special Economic Zone with Hong Kong SAR.

(China Daily 02/14/2001)