TNAG-2679-FCO40-3876-British-Trade-Commission--Hong-Kong--and-China-Trade-Unit-re-1993 — Page 97

FILE NOTE

TRADE QCONT

P.01

Reference

28

HUA 120/1

2 -. AUG 1993

The Bumbon

167/8

1377/8

TC

Nelson Chung

Mr Rose o/a

CC: DTI, PEP, XAAA2d

VHKD, FCO

FED, FCO

Commercial Section, Peking

ZHUHAI

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by fax

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During my visit to the Pearl River Delta, afternoon and evening of 11 August in Zhuhai. first visit there. I was quite impressed, by comparison to what I have seen in other parts of the Delta. The development is clearly much smaller scale than that in Shenzhen but there does seem to be a serious attempt to put the main emphasis on infrastructure work (roads, bridges, sewage, electricity, etc) as well as on the environment (planting of trees and bushes along roads, grass in various public places, preservation of agricultural areas). The general impression Zhuhai makes on a brief visit is quite attractive. The population was variously given me as 250,000 and 500,000 with an eventual target expansion to 800,000.

2.

The Vice Mayor (Zeng Defeng) and other senior officials, were very proud of the fact that the slow-down in public works decreed by the Chinese central government was not affecting them in any way. This was because they were in no way a drain on the centre. When asked to explain this, they said that their funds came from three sources: the sale of land to investors, the sale of bonds and investment by investors. They had over the last 15 years been able to reclaim an equivalent amount of land to that which had been developed. This had preserved the agricultural base for much of the SEZ. Chinese leaders, who had visited Zhuhai in recent weeks, had been pleased with the management of the SEZ, and its low cost to the State.

3. On the infrastructure front, the following projects are under active consideration, some already embarked on:

a deep-water port in western Zhuhai which will eventually rival Victoria Harbour Hong Kong in size; much of the land formation is already taking place as well as dredging of the channel.

an airport big enough for Boeing 747s, also in western Zhuhai; the runway construction is already underway.

the 12,000 MW power project in the harbour area; the project that GEC is pursuing with Li Kashing.

اہل

CODE 18-77

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