Qingdao-based Haier Group, the world's fourth largest white goods manufacturer, has recently announced the opening of 1,500 air conditioner specialty stores in China's third- and fourth-tier cities in 2009, including 102 in Henan province, 50 in Hunan province.

With a total investment of 100 million yuan, Haier aims to reinforce its cooperation with local governments and introduce more energy-saving models in a bid to grab a bigger market share through these new stores next year, according to Su Ming, director of Haier's air-conditioner marketing department.

According to the company, sales of air conditioners only grew 4.2 percent year-on-year with 31.048 million units being sold, compared with the growth rate for the previous year of 20.2 percent.

Guizhou biodiesel site

Guizhou province has recently set up a 300-ton biodiesel oil trial production line, which will help the province's total oil production reach 1 million tons per year in the future, generating a total output of 10 billion yuan.

The plantation area covers 16,667.5 hectares of jatropha curcas (a tropical treewhose seed is 30 percent oil and can be processed to produce biofuel).

Two biodiesel demonstration facilities with an annual output of 10,000 tons and 20,000 tons have been put into production.

Guodian invests in Ningxia

China Guodian Corp, parent of GD Power Development Co Ltd, will invest 106 billion yuan in energy and chemical projects in Ningxia Hui autonomous region, according to the company.

A range of production facilities in Shizuishan city, including polysilicon and polyvinyl chloride, will get 85 billion of the investment, and the remaining 23 billion yuan will be invested in a methanol and formaldehyde project in Yinchuan, provincial capital of Ningxia.

China Guodian is one of the five largest power generation groups in China and also has been seeking to diversify its business in a bid to cope with soaring coal prices.

Wind power JV in Jiuquan

State-owned China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation (CECIC) has set up a joint venture with Hong Kong Energy (Holdings) Ltd to build a 200-megawatt wind power project in wind-rich Changma village of Jiuquan city, in Northwest China's Gansu province.

With a 70-percent stake in the joint venture, CECIC has gained preliminary approval from the National Development and Reform Commission for the project, and both partners will jointly apply for regulatory permission for the project.

Hong Kong Energy owns a 30 percent stake. Upon completion of certain conditions, Hong Kong Energy would have the right to buy a further 10 percent.

Dalian wind farm

Dalian Tuoshan Wind Power Farm, the largest wind power farm in Liaoning province, is being built with an investment of 2.8 billion yuan by China Power Investment Corporation.

The wind power farm is located in Tuoshan, Wafangdian, Dalian, and occupies an area of 62 square kilometers. The investment for the first phase is 530 million yuan and 33 wind power units, each with a capacity of 1,500 kilowatts, will be put into operation in December 2009.

Tuoshan Wind Power Farm will have a total capacity of 300,000 kilowatts - producing 700 million kilowatt-hours annually.

Hunan Metals in Pakistan

Hunan Nonferrous Metals Corp Ltd, China's top zinc producer, will start production at its partly owned lead and zinc mining project in Pakistan in November, according to a company executive.

"The project will start production in mid-November," said Wang Jianjun, the import and export department head of Zhuzhou Smelter Group, a Shanghai-listed unit of Hunan Nonferrous Metals. He also added that all the lead and zinc concentrates from the Pakistan project would supply the company.

The Pakistan plant is designed to produce 100,000 tons of zinc concentrate and 32,000 tons of lead concentrate a year, Hunan Nonferrous Metals has said.

(China Daily 09/15/2008 page10)