CND | 03/28/00

Preparatory work for a giant east-west gas
pipeline stretching from the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang to Shanghai has
begun,reported the China Daily on Monday. Official figures show that a total
of 419 billion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves exist in the vast
Tarim Basin of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in northwestern China.
Gas experts estimate that there could be as much as a trillion cubic meters
of gas in the basin. The 4,200-kilometer pipeline project is expected to
wind its way through six provinces and one autonomous region to link to
eastern China'sShanghai city. The total cost for constructing the pipeline
is estimated to be as much as110 billion yuan (US$13.25 billion). It will be
China's second-largest infrastructure project next to the Three Gorges Dam
Project. Construction for the pipeline is expected to begin in the first
half of next year. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2003. ZENG
Peiyan, minister of the State Development Planning Commission (SDPC), asked
for the cooperation from both central and local governments that would be
involved in the project. In addition, Premier ZHU Rongji said that he
welcomes foreign companies to invest in the project. (MichaelZHOU, WU Yiyi)