Plan to lure more companies into the region with incentives worth 5b yuan
Beijing is offering mainland companies more than 5 billion yuan in subsidies and dozens of other incentives to lure them to the Three Gorges Dam area in a drive to lift residents out of poverty.
A Chongqing migration department official told the city's Hualong News the enticements included direct investment and bank interest payments.
The move is one in a series of efforts undertaken by both central and local governments to rejuvenate the areas affected by the huge dam project.
The project area encompasses cities, counties and districts from Hubei to Chongqing and covers 56,000 sq km. About 16 million people live in the region and more than 1.1 million have had to move home due to the dam's construction.
Lei Hengshun, an expert on issues surrounding the dam who played a role in formulating the subsidies, said details of the programme were still being worked out.
Xiong Jianli, of the Chongqing Three Gorges University, welcomed the decision.
