China Online
May 20, 2006

Li Yongan, vice president of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corp., recently said that his company has worked out several listing plans

Li Yongan, vice president of the China Yangtze Three Gorges Project Development Corp., recently said that his company has worked out several listing plans. However, everything is currently in preliminary stages and the final decision will not be made until 2003. The company intends to raise 10 billion renminbi (US$1.2 billion). At the 2000 International Financial Securities (Hong Kong) Symposium on Sept. 15, Li said that the company and the Gezhouba Power Plant will undergo reorganization and restructuring to introduce strategic investors. He noted that the Three Gorges Project has worked out three plans for listing, according to the Sept. 16 Hong Kong Ming Pao. The first is to issue A shares on the mainland; the second is to issue H shares in Hong Kong; and the third is to issue A shares first and then H shares. The problem with the issuance of A shares is the limited market capacity, the article noted. From 1995 to 1998, a number of investment banks, such as the China International Capital Co., The Goldman Sachs Group and Merrill Lynch, held talks with the company on the issuance of H shares. Li further revealed that the assets to be listed will include generating sets at the Gezhouba plant and the Three Gorges and that the raised funds will mainly be used for the installation of the new generating sets and the Three Gorges Project. According to Li, the project has encountered many difficulties over the years regarding the issue of overseas bonds, which is related to the problem of foreign investors seeing the project as harmful to the environment. Currently, the bonds are mainly issued at home. The company plans to issue Rmb 2 million to Rmb 3 billion (US$241.5 million to US$362.3 million) of bonds next year. The Three Gorges Project has an expected completion date of 2009. By that time, there will be 26 generating sets, each capable of generating 700,000 kwh (kilowatt hours) of electricity. Four generating sets will be put into operation by 2003. The dynamic fund demand of the whole project is Rmb 203.9 billion (US$24.6 billion). Funds needed by 2003 are expected to reach Rmb 180 billion (US$21.7 billion), with Rmb 80 billion (US$9.7 billion) for the first phase and Rmb 100 billion (US$12.1 billion) for the second phase.