BEIJING: China Energy Investment Corp. said on Monday China’s National Development and Reform Commission in Qinghai province has approved a hydro power plant worth 17 billion yuan ($2.46 billion) on Dec. 30 in the province.
The plant is a so-called pumped storage hydropower facility that is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir during periods of high electrical demand. The plant will start full production in 2028.
Normality returns
Some people in China’s key cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan braved the cold and a spike in COVID-19 infections to return to regular activity on Monday, confident of a boost to the economy as more recover from infections.
However, a wave of infections has since erupted nationwide, after borders had been kept all but shut for three years amid a strict regime of lockdowns and relentless testing.
Traffic is building again on the capital’s roads as people quickly return to outdoor sites, such as lakes, rivers and shopping malls. But business is still slow at some smaller, confined places such as restaurants, owners said.
In recent days state media have sought to reassure the public that the COVID-19 outbreak was under control and nearing its peak.
More than 80 percent of those living in the southwestern province of Sichuan have been infected, its Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Saturday.
But Monday’s one new COVID death — flat with the previous day — among China’s population of 1.4 billion does not match the experience of other countries after they reopened.
