Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas) will strike a US$210 million deal tomorrow with a mainland utility to build and operate a piped natural gas distribution network in Hubei province.
Towngas was expected to invest about US$60 million in the project, while state-owned Wuhan Gas-fuelled Heat Generation and other Chinese partners would invest US$150 million, a Hubei foreign trade official said yesterday. No shareholding breakdown was given.
The gas project would supply natural gas to households and industries in Wuhan city, the provincial capital.
The deal is one of 170 projects worth about US$3 billion being offered to foreign investors in Hong Kong at a three-day trade fair hosted by Hubei. The province is hoping for foreign investment of about US$2.2 billion towards that total.
The projects span sectors such as agriculture, high-technology, infrastructure and tourism.
Provincial vice-governor Han Zhongxue said Hong Kong remained Hubei's window to foreign investment.
Since China's open-door policy began 20 years ago, Hong Kong has invested US$3.63 billion in Hubei, or 45.8 per cent of the province's total US$8 billion in actual foreign investment.
