China - Shaanxi Ankang Road Development Project

Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AB1580 Project Name Shaanxi Ankang Road Development Region EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Sector Roads and highways (90%);Sub-national government administration (10%) Project ID P075613 Borrower(s) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Implementing Agency Shaanxi Provincial Transportation Department Xincheng Shaanxi China 710006 Tel: (86) 29-8729-2169 jfp@sxsjtt.gov.cn People's Republic of China - Ministry of Finance San Li He Lu, Beijing, 100820 China Tel: 86-10-68551124 Fax: 86-10-68551125 jl.yang@mof.gov.cn People's Republic of China, Ministry of Finance China Environment Category [X] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared April 27, 2005 Estimated Date of Appraisal Authorization March 14, 2006 Estimated Date of Board Approval June 22, 2006 1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement For the last ten years China has experienced significant improvements in economic growth, poverty reduction and increased access of the poorest populations to public services. Between the beginning of the 1990s and 2001, the poverty rate roughly decreased by half to 16.6% while GDP growth hovered at around 8% per annum since the mid-1990s, and by the beginning of the new millennium life expectancy at 70 forged ahead of income-comparable countries. However, increases in overall wellbeing have produced disparities among regions with higher incidence of poverty and slower economic growth in the Western regions. Shaanxi Province is one of those provinces with per capita GDP at around 70% of the national average, ranking in the bottom fifth among the 31 provinces and regions in China. Fifty of its 107 counties have been officially designated poor. A significant portion of the poor population Page 2 in Shaanxi lives in two northern and three southern counties, the latter located in the Ankang area. Lacking transport infrastructure is one of the contributing factors behind the depressed economic conditions in these counties. Ankang accounts for 11.5% (23,500 km2) of the Shaanxi Province and for 8% (almost 3 million) of its population. Located in the Southern highly mountainous territory of the province, Ankang has a strong potential for expansion of agricultural (e.g., tea), mineral (e.g., flagstone), and hydropower industries, and the development of tourism activities. Lack of adequate transport accessibility and a road network of insufficient quality condition are major constraints on the social and economic development of the Ankang region. The Government of China