HIGH WAY Construction workers pave the road in north Tibet's Damxung County on May 5. The project on the Qinghai to Tibet Highway's Golmud to Lhasa section is progressing smoothly (JUE GUO)

The State Council approved a plan to develop a coastal economic zone near Taiwan in the wake of warming ties with the island on May 4.

The zone on the west side of the Taiwan Straits would be an experimental frontier for cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation, the State Council said in a statement.

Fujian Province will be the zone's hub, facing Taiwan across the Straits and neighboring the Pearl River and the Yangtze River deltas, two of the mainland's economic powerhouses.

Cross-Straits Stake Purchase

China Mobile Ltd., the world's largest mobile service provider by subscribers, agreed to buy a 12-percent stake in Taiwan's Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., the first direct investment by a mainland company on the island in six decades.

China Mobile will pay about HK$4.08 billion ($528 million) for the stake. Compared with the mainland, Taiwan is in a more advanced stage of development in both 3G-technology application and value-added data services.

While the proposed deal will be another step toward enhancing trade and economic exchanges across the Taiwan Straits, Far EasTone still will seek approval from Taiwan's telecom regulator, because it is said to fall under the category of companies in which investment from the Chinese mainland is not allowed.

Mineral Deal

China Non-Ferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co. Ltd. (CNMC) agreed to buy a majority stake of 51.6 percent in Australian rare earth miner Lynas Corp. Ltd. for about $184 million.

As the latest Chinese investment in Australia's mining industry, the deal would provide capital for the cash-strapped company to complete the construction of plants in Australia and Malaysia. The Sydney-based company suspended its rare earth project in February due to a lack of funding. As part of the deal, CNMC will also provide a bank guarantee for Lynas to obtain a loan of $104 million from a Chinese bank to fund the first phase of the project.

If the deal wins approval from the Australian and Chinese authorities as well as shareholders, CNMC will have four directors appointed to the board of Lynas, the company said in a May 1 statement.

Wind Power Wins Support

China plans to create 100-150 gigawatts of wind power capacity by 2020 through a support plan for the renewable energy industry, said a Xinhua report on May 5. The report said the support plan would come out in the near future.

Based on this goal, China will become the biggest growth market for wind power generation this year, according to a Global Wind Energy Council forecast.

China, as the world's second largest energy consumer, is currently the fourth largest wind power producer in the world after the United States, Germany and Spain.

Rail Transportation Fair

China will hold an international urban rail transportation fair on August 7-9 in Beijing, said the Ministry of Commerce at a press conference on May 7.

The fair aims to promote the implementation of the country's strategies related to urban transportation network development and boost international exchanges and cooperation in this area.

By 2015, the total length of China's urban rail transportation network will exceed 3,400 km.