Construction for the Three Gorges Dam Project seems to be going better than expected, or at least that’s what the project’s general manger is saying. The total investment in it will be no more than 180 billion renminbi (US$21.74 billion), Rmb 23.9 billion (US$2.89 billion) less than expected, according to Lu Youmei, general manager of the China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp. and the deputy director of the Three Gorges Dam Project’s construction committee under the State Council. On Oct. 25, Lu stated that the Three Gorges Dam Project (click here to see map) has undergone smooth construction since it started nearly eight years ago in 1993, according to a story that appeared in the Oct. 26 Hong Kong Wen Wei Po Daily. The total cost of Rmb 180 billion (US$21.74 billion) is far lower than the Rmb 203.9 billion (US$24.63 billion) expected in 1994. Lu said that fund raising of the Three Gorges Project has been accomplished through the following channels:

1.The State’s Three Gorges construction fund, collected by charging additional Rmb 0.004 to Rmb 0.007 (US$0.0005 to US$0.0008) per kilowatt-hour from national electric power users. This amount will accumulate to Rmb 100 billion (US$12.08 billion) within 17 years and can satisfy half of the fund demanded;
2.Income from Ge Zhouba Dam Power Plant on the Three Gorges, which accounts for one-fourth the total sum needed;
3.Rmb 30 billion (US$3.62 billion) of bank loans;
4.Export credit; and
5.Corporate bonds. The China Yangtze River Three Gorges Project Development Corp. is to issue a corporate bond worth Rmb 3 billion (US$362.40 million) next year. The general scale of the bond is predicted to be Rmb 12 billion (US$1.45 billion).

Lu assured that concern over whether the Three Gorges Project will affect the investment on the project of transmitting natural gas from the east to the west (West-East Pipeline Project) is unnecessary. The West-East Pipeline Project has its own preferential policy and fund-raising method, noted the article. Economic development demands power redirection Lu stated that about 3 billion kilowatts of power had to be purchased from Hong Kong to meet the needs of Guangzhou’s rapid economic growth. Therefore, the State Council has recently decided to transmit 2 million kilowatts of electric power generated by the Three Gorges Dam to Guangzhou instead of to Chongqing, as previously planned. One million kilowatts of power will be transmitted from central China to Guangzhou as well. According to the previous plan, the power generated in the Three Gorges Power Plant was to be transmitted along the Yangtze River to Shanghai as well as Chongqing. Now, Ertan Hydroelectric Power, which is producing a surplus of power, will be meeting the demands of Chongqing. Lu commented on the fact that China’s per capita usage is rather low, ranked lower than 70th in the world. He said that the power supply surplus of a couple years ago was a temporary phenomenon. Now that China’s economy is being revived, oversupply is out of the question. Power demand in China is so enormous that the power generated from several "Three Gorges Projects" could hardly satisfy it, noted the article.