Building of a railway line network connecting south China's Guangdong Province and Hainan Province, including a section of train ferry service across the Qiongzhou Straits, has been carried out tensely.

By August, 2.11 billion yuan (US$254 million) has been spent since the project started construction in August 1998, accounting for about a half of the total investment, said sources from Guangdong-Hainan Railway Co. Ltd., the developer.

To ensure a smooth construction of the project, the State Development Planning Commission has decided to add another 700 million yuan (US$84.34 million) of capital to make up for the gap left by a postponed overseas loan of US$200 million. Out of the added investment, 400 million yuan (US$48.2 million) will be put in place this year, said corporate sources.

In the meantime, the developer will also have to borrow another 960 million yuan (US$115.66 million) in loans from the State Development Bank.

The Guangdong-Hainan railway line network consists of railway route from Zhanjiang to Hai'an in Guangdong Province, the train ferry service on Qiongzhou Straits, and the railway line that will run along the west coast of Hainan Island and extend to Sanya on the southern tip of the island.

It is expected that Zhanjiang-Hai'an railway route will be completed and ready for traffic by late this year and train ferry service on Qiongzhou Straits will be available by late next year. The entire project, with a length of 542.6 km, will be completed in 2003.

Hainan, which used to be under jurisdiction of Guangdong Province and became a province of its own status in 1988, is separated apart from the Chinese mainland by the Qiongzhou Straits.

(China Daily 09/18/2001)