China Industry: Feb. 23

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Feb. 23 – This is a regular series of relevant industry news from around China.

Solar power
Golden Sun (Fujian) Solar Technology Co. Ltd. plans to build a RMB950 million thin film solar cell R&D and manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 150 MW in the Mafang Industrial Park of Pinggu District. The project is funded by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Industrial Development and Pinggu District government.

A RMB100 million, 1.5 MW thermal solar power project is expected to break ground in Beijing. The facility, which is designed by China Academy of Sciences, is expected to begin operation in 2010. It will be funded by the Ministry of Science, the Beijing municipal government and the academy, and is expected to produce 2.7 million kWh of electricity annually.

Air transport
Taiwan and Japan have agreed to set up a connection between Tokyo’s Haneda airport and Taipei’s Songshan Airport. Flights are expected to start by the end of the year.

Guangdong Airport Management Corp.  reported a pre-tax profit of RMB412 million for 2008, up by 306 percent from 2007. The company’s airports served 297,800 flights that year, an increase of 6.9 percent and handled 34.8547 million passengers, 7.5 percent more than in 2007. It’s operating revenue for 2008 stood at approximately RMB3.5 billion, up 9.26 percent year-on-year.

According to the latest requirements for establishing new airline divisions issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China, companies must have been operational for at least three years without experiencing major accidents in the last two. Airlines should also have more than 10 aircrafts and their branches – at least three airplanes each.

China Southern Airlines Ltd. said that it will reduce its fuel surcharge from the mainland to Hong Kong from RMB95 to RMB54.

Singapore Airlines will cut its weekly flights between Singapore and Beijing from 21 to 17 in April. Flights to Guangzhou will be reduced to five from seven a week, and to Nanjing – from three to two. Other foreign airlines are also cutting flights or suspending routes to Chinese cities amid the global economic crisis and weakened passenger demand.

Renewable power industry

Utility EDP – Energias de Portugal and Macau entrepreneur Stanley Ho have created a renewable energy firm, the economic and trade department of the Chinese Embassy in Portugal informed in a filing yesterday.

The company, named EDP – Energy Solutions Asia, will be active in the alternative energy market in China. EDP – Energy Solutions Asia will specialize in consultancy services in management of renewable energy solutions. The firm will also act as an observer of the investment opportunities in the sector in the country.

EDP – Energy Solutions Asia is 60 percent owned by EDP, while Stanley Ho controls the remainder. The company is headquartered in Beijing.

With this partnership, EDP is reinforcing its positions in Asia where it operates through the shareholding in CEM -Companhia de Electricidade de Macau.

This industry report brief is courtesy of Aii Data Processing.