Hubei province hopes to tap Hong Kong's deep-pocketed investors for a huge splurge on infrastructure as it seeks to turn itself into a mainland transport hub.
The provincial government of Hubei is seeking investment from Hong Kong companies for more than 150 projects on which massive budgets have been lavished. It has earmarked an investment budget of 12 trillion yuan (HK$13.76 trillion) for the next few years, nearly 10 times the province's GDP last year. The money will be spent mainly on transport, energy and urban construction.
Xu Kezhen, director of the Hubei Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said the many projects are aimed at 'turning Hubei into a transport hub in central China'.
Wuhan vice-mayor Sun Ya said: 'We have a series of infrastructure and services projects in Wuhan to attract Hong Kong investors.'
Infrastructure spending is expected to top 100 billion yuan this year, Sun said. 'We must rely on private investment. The government does not have all that money. We still have to eat.'
Wuhan's infrastructure spending last year was 86.3 billion yuan, 45 per cent more than in 2008.
Hong Kong investors have expressed interest in investing in Wuhan's plan to build more than 68 car parks with an investment budget of 6.36 billion yuan from 2011 to 2013, said Lei Dechao, chairman of the Wuhan Urban Construction Investment and Development Group, a state-owned firm.