(Xinhua is the official Press Agency of the People's Republic of China)

(Qinghai & parts of Gansu province make up Amdo province of Tibet)-- WTN News

XINING (Nov. 11) XINHUA - Qinghai, an underdeveloped province in northwest China, has launched a number of key projects to speed up the development of its abundant energy and raw material resources.

The province will score a 30 percent increase in investment in fixed assets this year from last year, according to the provincial government.

A provincial government official said that investment in fixed assets in state or provincial key projects for industry, infrastructure, and mining is expected to reach 7.2 billion yuan by the end of this year.

The official said that nearly two billion yuan has been spent building the Lijiaxia Hydroelectric Power Station on the upper reaches of the Yellow River, and the Qinghai oil field used 500 million yuan for development.

Work has been completed on a 189-km gas pipeline, which can carry 800 million cubic meters of natural gas a year.

Other key projects include ferro-silicon and coal. plans have been drawn up for the construction of a polyvinyl chloride plant with an annual production capacity of 120,000 tons, a caustic soda plant to turn out 100,000 tons annually, a synthetic ammonia plant to manufacture 300,000 tons a year, and an urea plant to produce 520,000 tons annually.

Construction of the second phase of the Qinghai Potash Fertilizer Plant will be undertaken jointly by Qinghai and Israel, at an estimated cost of 4.6 billion yuan. The plant is designed to produce 800,000 tons of potassium chloride annually.