Construction efforts on major projects that are part of the
city's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) are in full swing, according
to local officials.
Among the projects
slated for the city over the next five years are construction
of the second and third lines of Guangzhou subway, completion
of the new Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and building
of the New Guangzhou Stadium.
Investment in the
Guangzhou subway extension has so far reached 1.8 billion
yuan (US$200 million), roughly one-10th of the 11.3 billion
yuan (US$1.4 billion) experts say will be needed.
At present, there
are a total of 33 subway construction sites and the building
of five stations has already been completed.
The second line
of the subway, a north-south complement to the already existent
east-west first line, is expected to open by the end of 2003,
according to Lu Guangling, general director of Guangzhou Metro
Group.
Lu claimed that
by 2010, the entire subway transportation network, composed
of five subway routes with a total length of 129.4 kilometers,
will be completed and operational.
An equally ambitious
project slated for the next five years is the new Guangzhou
Baiyun International Airport, which "will be the best
airport in Asia," according to Lin Yunxian, deputy director
of the Baiyun Airport Company.
Expected to involve
investment of 19.6 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion), the airport
will be built to the standard of an international hub. It
is expected to handle 25 million passengers a year by 2010.
Among the key projects
currently under way in Guangzhou, the one closest to completion
is the new Guangzhou Stadium, the major venue for the Ninth
National Sports Games to be held in November. The stadium
is 95 per cent completed. One of the most architecturally
striking structures in the city, it is expected to be open
for use by June this year.
First phase construction
of two high-tech parks - Biology Island and Science and Technology
Park - is also going well, according to officials from both
parks.
The biology park
has been designed to help scientists explore the potential
of Chinese medicine and pursue research in genetics, while
the Science and Technology Park will be dedicated to the industrialization
of developments in scientific and technological research.
(China Daily 03/05/2001)
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