China announced a four-trillion-yuan stimulus package last year to ward off a slump in economic growth. And since then, there have been high hopes for an upturn in the economic situation. Various projects in the package have already gotten underway throughout China to help jump-start the economy and improve the livelihood of the people.

In Shaanxi province, a total of 36 guaranteed housing projects kicked off during the New Year holidays.

Once established, the buildings will help nearly 14-thousand low-income families who cannot afford to buy a home to settle down.

Local construction officials say the projects will also help to create about 12-thousand jobs in the province.

Other projects are aimed at enhancing environmental protection.

The central government has allocated 250 million yuan to create over 160-thousand hectares of shelter-belt in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

This man estimates he will be able to make more than five-thousand yuan this winter by working on the project.

Meanwhile, authorities have begun building a nearly eight-thousand-meter-long bridge on the Hanjiang River, in central China's Hubei province. The bridge is an essential part on the HanYi railway line, which links Shanghai and Chengdu. The construction is expected to be completed in 2011.

Meanwhile, construction of a nuclear power plant is underway in Liaoning province. Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant is the first such facility to be established in northeast China. It's expected that the power plant will play an important role in efforts to rejuvenate the rust-belt in the country's northeast.

(CCTV January 5, 2009)