Shaanxi, an inland province in Northwest China, plans to build a large energy and heavy chemical industrial base in Yulin in northern Shaanxi.
Several projects will begin next month, including Yushen Coal Mine, acetic acid, methanol, thermal power plant and highways, with an investment of more than 6 billion yuan (US$722 million), according to Wang Dengji, Yulin's mayor.
The area of Yushen Coal Mine -- the first phase of the project -- will be 2,645 square kilometres, with 20.2 billion tons of proved reserves and 233 coal pits and an annual output reaching 54.6 million tons of coal.
The total investment of the project is 4.9 billion yuan (US$592.7 million), Wang said. The coal reserves total 27 billion tons, making it one of the world's largest coal fields.
And the oil reserves reach 500 million tons while the natural gas reserves hit more than 300 billion cubic metres.
The mayor said the thermal power project, part of a plan to provide electricity from west to east, will start as soon as possible, once the central government approves it.
(China Daily February 7, 2002)
