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Sino-Kuwaiti $8B oil project in search of site

By Qiu Quanlin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-20 08:51

ZHANJIANG, Guangdong: A Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KWC) delegation will start inspecting some cities in Guangdong province from Sunday to set up the largest Sino-Kuwaiti oil processing and chemical project.

The joint venture was to be based in Nansha district of Guangzhou, but last month the provincial government decided to move it to another city because of environmental concerns, Nameer Alquraini, Kuwait's consul general in Guangzhou, said on Friday.

"The KWC delegation will begin inspecting cities such as Zhanjiang, Maoming, Taishan and Huizhou from Sunday," Alquraini said. But the project will definitely be located in Guangdong.

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Judging by the infrastructure and transport facilities, Zhanjiang seems to enjoy a slight edge over the other cities, and the city's officials are trying their best to attract the Kuwaiti delegation.

Speaking during an inspection tour of western Guangdong, organized by the provincial foreign affairs office, Alquraini said KWC would give top priority to communication and transport links and environmental protection in choosing the new site.

"Since the agreement signed four years ago, the two countries have attached utmost importance to environmental assessments. That's why we are still looking for an appropriate site," he said.

The project will be the largest Sino-foreign oil processing and chemical joint venture in China. The two countries signed the $8-billion deal in 2005, and expect the plants to produce 15 million tons of petroleum products a year, Xinhua said.

Chen Yaoguang, Party chief of Zhanjiang in western Guangdong, said the coastal city was ready to show the Kuwaiti delegation the advantages its transport network enjoys.

"The project will help boost economic development in the area. We are trying our best to get the Kuwaiti officials to choose Zhanjiang as the site," Chen said.

The Guangdong provincial development and reform committee recommended Zhanjiang as an alternative site for the project after moving it out of Nansha.