A mainland official says the only obstacle holding up construction of a US$3.8 billion power plant by Taiwan petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics Group in Fujian is the approval of the Taiwan authorities. The director of Fujian's Commission of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, Chen Juwu, said the memorandum signed between Formosa's head, Wang Yung-ching, and the Chinese Government was as important as a contract, because Formosa was to be the sole investor in the 3.6 million-kilowatt plant. Wen Wei Po quoted Mr Wang earlier this month denying that Formosa was going to use its subsidiary in the United States as an investment vehicle because of its sensitivity. The project, despite not being listed in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, had been given preliminary approval by the State Planning Commission to start initial planning before 2000, Mr Chen said. In another development, Fuzhou Municipal Commission of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade director Wu Jingti said Fuzhou's Changle International Airport could start trial flights by October this year. Total investment in the first phase was two billion yuan (about HK$1.86 billion) and there was no foreign shareholder despite part of the funding coming from overseas. The highway linking the city hub of Fuzhou and the airport, the Xianan-Wulongjiang highway, could be completed by September. Some foreign investors were talking to the Fuzhou government about investing in support services, such as car parks, for the airport. Mr Chen said the result of negotiations by Eastman Kodak to buy a stake in Xiamen Fuda Photographic Materials would not be known until the end of the year. Foreign investment in the first five months this year was US$1.5 billion while signed contracts were for projects worth US$3.7 billion, up 5 per cent from the latest corresponding period.
