Guangdong plans $36.6b infrastructure spend

Guangdong plans to spend US$36.6 billion by 2010 to expand road and river transport and build ports, the South China Morning Post reported. US$25.2 billion would be spent on road construction, US$11 billion on ports and US$441 million on river transport, Wang Zhirong, the provincial Transport Department's disciplinary and inspection section chief, told a news conference on the province's 11th Five-Year Development Programme agenda in Guangzhou Wednesday. Wang said the province would have to find new ways to meet the cost, which is twice that spent in the previous five years. "The investment amount is big and the need for capital is great. We have to consider opening up the sector completely for private investment and issuing bonds to raise capital," he said