Nanjing bid to woo HK investors
A DELEGATION from Nanjing city, the provincial capital of Jiangsu, is in Hongkong to attract investors to help finance its modernisation plans.
Mr Dai Yongning, deputy secretary-general of Nanjing's municipal government, yesterday said the city had drawn up several major infrastructure programmes entailing huge capital investments.
Organised by the Jiangsu provincial government, the proposed international airport in Nanjing has been approved by the State Council and will help ease congestion at the existing Nanjing airport.
Investment in the first phase is estimated at 1.17 billion yuan (about HK$1.57 billion).
An underground system in Nanjing is also planned. Mr Dai said the first phase of the 16.8-kilometre network would require an investment of 3.2 billion yuan.
Other projects such as the building of a second bridge over the Yangtze River and a 122-kilometre highway linking the city to Shanghai are key components of the master-plan.
Mr Dai said Hongkong's New World Development had expressed interest in several of the projects, including the Nanjing Metro system, the Yangtze River bridge, and some property development and industrial projects.
But New World Development (China) assistant general manager So Ngok yesterday denied that the company was interested in any of the projects, or, for that matter, in Nanjing.
''New World is interested in three major Chinese cities - Guangzhou, Wuhan and Beijing - which creates a coherent picture for our strategic link-up on the mainland.
''We may take up projects in other places when we think they fit our development plan. But as far as I know, Nanjing is not the place,'' he said.
