China will take proactive measures to attract more overseas capital in the transportation sector after China enters the World Trade Organization (WTO), so as to ease the capital shortage in this sector, said sources with the just finished China Road Transportation Working Conference.
Hu Xijie, vice-minister of the Ministry of Communication said at the conference that China's WTO entry offers a good chance to boost China's road transportation sector, and stressed that more overseas capital, as well as advanced foreign management concepts, technologies and market-running experience will be introduced to improve the level of domestic road transportation.
Hu said the project of building 45 road transportation hubs in the next 10 years needs a huge sum of money, and to solve this problem, more capital inflow should be welcomed through many channels, such as investment from the government, in the form of shares and treasure bonds, and capital from overseas should be introduced in particular.
Hu said, from now on, all fields in which China promises to allow foreign capital to flow in will be opened to domestic enterprises and domestic capital first.
He added that China will develop some 50 large-scale professional transportation groups to run their businesses across regions or the whole country, and thus lead the development of national transportation sector.
On the management of passenger transportation in the form of companies, Hu said, during the tenth five-year period, this will become popular in the whole eastern and middle parts of China where the economy is more developed, and in over 40% of the under-developed western areas.
(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2001)
