China honors agricultural promise

China has taken steps to honor its commitments made at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to help the continent develop agriculture, a senior official from the Ministry of Commerce said.

The nation will dispatch 50 agricultural experts and technicians plus 100 volunteers to Africa this year, said Yang Shuzeng, Director of the ministry’s Department of Foreign Aid.

At the Beijing Summit, China promised to send 100 agricultural experts to Africa to build 10 agricultural technology centers in the next three years.

Top gas producer

Northwest China’s Xinjiang reported a gas output of 16.1 billion cubic meters in 2006, overtaking the southwestern Sichuan Province to become the country’s top gas producer.

In 2005 the Xinjiang region produced a gas output of 10.6 billion cubic meters compared to 12 billion in Sichuan.

The Tarim, Karamay and Tuha oilfields, the three major fields in the region, produced 11 billion, 2.88 billion and 1.65 billion cubic meters of gas respectively last year.

Xinjiang has an estimated natural gas reserve of 10 trillion cubic meters, accounting for a quarter of China’s total. The region’s proven reserve of natural gas is 1.2 trillion cubic meters.

Last year, the region channeled 9.8 billion cubic meters of gas to eastern regions.

Dam project excels

The Three Gorges Project, the world’s largest hydropower project, generated 49.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity in 2006.

The electricity generated by the project is used in 15 provinces in central, east, south and southwest China, alleviating power shortage in those regions.

About 298 billion cubic meters of water flowed through the Three Gorges dam in 2006, the lowest for 137 years and down 33.9 percent from the average figure in previous years, according to an official in charge of the project.

In 2006, the Three Gorges Project Corp. signed contracts with the State Power Grids to presell nearly 300 billion kwh of electricity to the State Power Grids for the 2006-10 period, the largest bill for China’s power projects.

Foreign house buyers regulated

Foreigners in Beijing must prove they have worked or studied in China for more than a year before they are allowed to buy homes for their own use in the city, according to new regulations.

The rules state that they must obtain a certificate from the exit and entry office of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

The rules forbid foreigners to buy houses not for their own use unless they establish a business in China.

According to the rules, branches or offices of foreign organizations are allowed to buy property for their own use after submitting certificates of their identities to the relevant authorities.

Foreign embassies in China, representative offices of international organizations and people who enjoy diplomatic privileges need to obtain approval from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to buy a property.