A new railway in the Nansha area of Guangzhou will connect with the Guangzhou-Wuhan special passenger railway, according to a future development plan which was unveiled to the public Wednesday.

The Guangzhou-Wuhan railway project has been approved by the Central Government and construction will start at the end of the year.

According to the plan, Nansha, the only coastal area in Guangzhou, will be the center of Guangzhou's southward extension in urban space and industries.

The area will be a booming business town supported by a port, logistics, hi-tech and machinery industries, and a manufacturing base for automobiles, shipbuilding, steel and petrochemicals.

The Longxuedao Port area will accommodate at least 8 million TEUs and another 8 million tons of cargo with four 6-lane, two-way transport routes. A railway will connect the entire port area.

According the plan, the population will be kept within 1million.

The city government had set aside 4.5 billion yuan (US$544 million) for transport facilities in the area in the past three years.

The objective of the plan is to fully exploit the advantages of the geographic location, natural conditions, and coastal water transport resources to form a modern harbor industrial base.

(Shenzhen Daily December 13, 2004)