Zhao Ai, from the developing western region office, told representatives of multinational corporations that this was one of China's special policies encouraging the inflow of foreign funds into the western region.

Another special policy, Zhao said, will allow the involvement of foreign investors in the construction of urban gas pipeline networks.

The official said, foreign businessmen who invest in the west-east gas transmission projects, will enjoy preferential policies in terms of communication and energy resources, as well as other preferential policies associated with the development of the western region.

Four gas transmission lines are being built in China, Zhao said. The first, which is 4,167 km long, connects the Tarim Basin in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Shanghai in the east; the second is 935 km long, and runs from Qaidam Basin in Qinghai Province and ends at Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province; the third, which is 695 km long, runs from Zhongxian County of Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, and ends at Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province; and the fourth, which is 470 km long, runs from Changqing gas field in Shaanxi Province and ends at Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The four lines respectively transmit 12 billion cubic meters, 2 billion cubic meters, 3 billion cubic meters and 1.2 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

In another development, the spokesman for the State Administration of Light Industry said Monday that China has opened all of the 44 sectors in the light industry to foreign investors.

At the same time, China will introduce technologies and personnel from abroad as well as cooperate with foreign counterparts to improve the quality of light industrial products to raise the competitiveness of the products on the international market.

(People's Daily)