China -Third Fujian Hwy Sector Investment Project : China - Third Fujian Hwy Sector Investment Project

Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AB1738 Project Name China-Fujian Hwy Sector Investment (3rd Fujian Hwy) Region EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Sector Roads and highways (100%) Project ID P091020 Borrower(s) CHINA Implementing Agency Fujian Provincial Communications Department (FPCD) World Bank Loan Office of FPCD 7th Flr. Jiangtong Bldg., 18 Dongshui Rd Fuzhou Fujian Province China Tel: 86-591-8707-7707 Fax: 591-8707-7710; 591-87077374 shb@fjjt.gov.cn Environment Category [X] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared July 23, 2005 Estimated Date of Appraisal Authorization May 17, 2006 Estimated Date of Board Approval December 19, 2006 1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement Fujian, with 35 million people, is a province along the East coast of China located between the prosperous Chinese coastal provinces and cities of Guangdong and Hong Kong to the South and Zheijang and Shanghai to the North. Being the mainland area directly facing Taiwan across the Taiwan Strait, public investment was limited from the 60s into the 80s and only increased to levels commensurate with the socio-economic characteristics of the province in the 90s. By 2004, the province had lagged behind the other coastal provinces in the quality of transport infrastructure, affecting social and economic progress with a similar lag (e.g., GDP per capita falls between 75% and 85% of neighboring provinces, while life expectancy is more than two years lower). Though road density per 1000 square kilometers or per inhabitant is comparable to the country averages and those of neighboring provinces, the density of higher class roads is less than half of the values in the provinces of Guangdong or Zhejiang, and the percentage (81%) of unclassified and lower class (IV) roads is substantially larger. 1 Fujian