The Three Gorges project has generated 200 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, Xinhua reported.

The plant has produced electricity worth 50 billion yuan since it began operation in 2003 - equal to the power generated by 120 million tons of coal - and has led to a reduction of 240 million tons of carbon emissions, officials with the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Corp said.

The electricity generated by the project, located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze, the country's longest river, has fueled 15 provinces in central, eastern and southern China, easing severe power shortages in the industrial regions.

Coal restriction

Projects with annual energy consumption of over 2,000 tons of coal equivalent will not be approved in Shandong, said the provincial regulator.

Statistics show that last year the province's coal consumption was 210 million tons, accounting for 8.9 percent of the country's total.

This year the province will invest 2.23 billion yuan in energy-saving and emissions-control projects, according to the local government.

Microfinance trial

MicroCred Nanchong, the first wholly foreign-backed company in China offering microfinance services, has begun trial operation in Nanchong, in Southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The bank, with a total investment of 55 million yuan from MicroCred SA of France, International Finance Corporation, KfW Bankengruppe of Germany and American International Group, targets small firms, rural households and self-employed businesspeople.

Its financial services range from credit to mortgages. The loans vary between 5,000 and 75,000 yuan at a monthly interest rate of 1.1 percent. The minimum loan period is three months, while the maximum is 18 months.

Disney park funding

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government may offer funding to expand the city's Walt Disney Co theme park, the Standard reported, citing Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Frederick Ma.

Ma said he doesn't want visitors to lose interest in the park. Ma sits on the board of Hong Kong International Theme Parks Ltd, the venture between Disney and the government that owns the park.

Disney has previously said it may need extra funding after Hong Kong Disneyland visitor numbers and sales missed targets. But Ma wouldn't say how much money the government would provide, the Standard said.

(China Daily 11/06/2007 page15)