Stimulus spending outlined in China

Bloomberg News
Published: November 16, 2008

SHANGHAI: Chinese cities and provinces, including Shanghai and Beijing, said they would speed up investment plans to support the 4 trillion yuan stimulus package announced by the government last week.
The central province of Hubei will spend 512.8 billion yuan, or $75 billion, to build nine eco-cities around the provincial capital, Wuhan, by 2020, Xinhua, the state-run news agency, said Sunday. The plans involve 459 projects including energy conservation and environmental protection, it said.
China faces a "formidable challenge" to prevent a slump in the world's fourth-biggest economy, a top economic planner, Mu Hong, said Friday, as Beijing said it expected provinces and cities to contribute to the unprecedented fiscal stimulus. President Hu Jintao said Saturday that the package would help bolster the world economy.
The Ministry of Finance has "instructed local governments to revise their 2009 budgets, encouraging them to increase capital spending projects," Stephen Green, head of China research at Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai, said in a research note on Friday. "All ongoing projects that can be fast-tracked are being fast-tracked."
Shanghai will accelerate urban infrastructure construction amounting to 500 billion yuan through 2010, the Shanghai Daily reported Saturday, citing the city's construction and transport authority.

The southern island province of Hainan will invest 207 billion yuan over the next three years, focusing on agriculture, real estate, technology and infrastructure, Xinhua said Saturday, citing the local economic planning agency.
Beijing will spend 90 billion yuan to complete the construction of three subway lines in the next two years, according to a Beijing Daily report posted on the local government's Web site Saturday.