New World Infrastructure (NWI) says it is pursuing an equity interest in a more than $2 billion optical fibre project running along the coastline of northeast China to Guangxi province in the south. Chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun said after the company's annual general meeting yesterday that talks with the mainland authorities on investment possibilities were under way. NWI would be a pure investor and would not be involved in the operation of manufacturing aspects in the project, he said. But he said: 'The discussion is at a very preliminary stage.' The proposed optical fibre project, to be built in several sections, will link coastal cities in northeast China to Guangxi. Deputy managing director Douglas Chan Wing-tak said investment for the whole project would exceed $2 billion. He declined to project NWI's own investment, given that discussions were still at a preliminary stage. The investment size would largely depend on which section or how many sections NWI would undertake, he said. If the plan materialised, it would be NWI's first telecommunications-related project in China but would not be its largest mainland project, Mr Chan said. 'Guangzhou City Northern Ring Road so far is NWI's largest project,' he said. The 22 km dual three-lane toll expressway Guangzhou City Northern Ring Road, part of the planned Guangzhou ring road system surrounding the city, would cost about 1.5 billion yuan (about HK$1.39 billion). Mr Chan said more than 50 per cent of NWI's net profit was derived from mainland projects, including roads, bridges and power stations. According to the company's 1995 financial results, 31 per cent of its net earnings were from road projects. NWI was studying the feasibility of investing in expressway projects in Tianjin to further enlarge its mainland highway portfolios. No decision had been made, Mr Chan said. NWI's parent company New World Development Co has signed an agreement with the Tianjin government to redevelop the rundown houses scattered across an area of 200 hectares. Under the agreement, New World will invest 10 billion yuan reconstructing old houses in the city. Mr Cheng, who is also managing director of New World Development, said the massive project would be built in phases. The first phase would start soon and the initial capital to be injected by New World would be about 100 million to 200 million yuan, he said. NEW DIRECTION Discussions with authorities remain at preliminary stage China telecoms debut but not the biggest mainland project Roads remain major profit base
