Kaifeng to restore historical image

The local government signed a contract on Thursday with the China Construction Bank Henan branch, in which the bank promised to provide a 15 billion yuan loan to the government within three to five years, according to the Kaifeng city government's official website.

Li Tao, a worker at Longting Park whose 133-square-meter house is slated to be demolished, claimed 600,000 yuan in compensation, but the local government insisted on paying him only 274,030 yuan, according to a provincial news media.

The local government required the park's administrator — the bureau of cultural heritage and parks — to persuade Li to accept the compensation deal, according to a notice published on the Kaifeng Daily on Tuesday.

The notice required seven bureaus and departments, including the public security bureau and the transport bureau to persuade some of their employees to accept the government's compensation deal for the demolition of their houses.

Vice-mayor Wang said on Friday that the government had acquired more than 626,000 square meters of residents’houses for the construction projects by late July, according to the report on the government's website.

An official from the Kaifeng city government told People's Daily on Sunday that the cost of the project was an estimate, and the local government would try to attract both enterprises and individuals to invest in the project.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied China Business Journal's report that residents were forced to move out, saying that the project benefited local people, who could now move into better houses.

The project was met with fierce criticism by netizens on micro blogs on Sunday after it was reported by news media. Many people questioned whether the local government could afford the cost and whether local residents would benefit from the project.

Fan Lei, 35, an employee at the local taxation bureau, said he has embraced the government's ambitious project because it will make his hometown more beautiful. But he also worries the project might be discarded with half-completed buildings due to money problems.

"What I care for most is the housing issue — whether the compensation for demolished houses will meet residents’demand and whether the newly built houses would be comfortable to live in," he told China Daily on Sunday.

Liu Hua in Zhengzhou contributed to this story.