A fund raising plan for the Beijing No 5 subway line has been drawn
up and the line will be open within five years.
A spokesman for the Beijing No 5 Subway Line Investment Co Ltd,
a Sino-Canadian joint venture, made the remark in Beijing on Wednesday.
The line will cost a total of 12 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion),
one-third of which, or 4 billion yuan (US$481 million), has been
invested by the joint venture.
The other 8 billion yuan (US$963 million) will be raised via guaranteed
loans from Chinese and Canadian banks.
Co-established by the Beijing Capital Group, the Beijing Subway
Corporation, the Beijing State-owned Assets Management Company and
Canadian SNC-LAVALIN, the joint venture has a registration capital
of 4 billion yuan (US$481 million).
The Chinese and Canadian sides contributed 62.5 percent and 37.5
percent of the total respectively.
"According to international practices, investments beyond the
registration capital should be separately attracted by the two sides
in line with their respective shares,'' the spokesman said.
The Beijing branch of the China Construction Bank has signed a letter
of intent to provide a loan of 5 billion yuan (US$602 million) for
the subway line's construction.
The Canada-based Montreal, Royal and State banks have also issued
secured loan authorization letters worth a total of 3 billion yuan
(US$361 million) for the SNC-LAVALIN company.
Sources from the Beijing municipal government have indicated that,
in a bid to offer support for the project, the joint venture will
have priority in developing the 142-hectare area of land that the
line will take up.
Ticket prices for the line will be decided depending on its construction
and operation costs, which will be checked and ratified by the joint
venture and related government departments.
(China Daily 03/30)
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