The port city of Tianjin, an economic center in north China, plans to reclaim more than 50 square kilometers of seabed for industrial development, local government sources have said.
The first phase of the project, the largest of its kind launched by a Chinese city, will reclaim 20 square kilometers at a cost of 1.8 billion yuan (218 million US dollars).
The first phase, which will begin this year, is expected to be completed in three years, according to the sources.
Located on the coastline to the south of the estuary of the Haihe River, dubbed the "mother river of Tianjin", the reclaimed land will be used for developing ethylene, oil-refining, oil storage and sea water purifying projects.
Developers will use special bags filled with sea mud to create the new land. Experts say this could save a lot of money compared with the traditional method of depositing stones and earth to consolidate the reclaimed land.
(Xinhua News Agency March 25, 2003)
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