August 5, 1999

YICHANG (Xinhua) _ Some 44 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) has been raised for construction work on the dam at the Three Gorges on the middle reaches of China’s Yangtze River.

The Three Gorges Dam Project began in 1993 and is expected to cost 203.9 billion yuan (US$24.6 billion).

The main source of funds will be increased through electrical power charges.

The Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corporation, which is in charge of the project, has made an effort to find new channels. In the first six months of this year, it received 3.4 billion yuan (US$409 million) from corporate bonds, interbank loans and foreign loans.

Major Chinese banks have also helped support the project. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB) and Bank of China (BOC) recently signed loan agreements with the project developer.

From 1999 to 2003, the ICBC and CCB will each provide the Project Development Corporation with 4 billion yuan (US$480 million) worth of commercial loans.

The Three Gorges Dam will be built in three stages and will take 17 years to finish. By 2009, it will be the world’s biggest hydro-electric power plant both in total capacity and annual average generating capacity.

The overall generating capacity is estimated at 18.2 million kilowatts and the annual generating capacity is approximately 84.68 billion kilowatt hours (KWH), or about one-seventh of China’s 1992 total.