XIAMEN | Projects & Construction

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NBA China to build world-class stadium
Updated: 2012-07-22 08:28
By China Daily

Huahong Investment and NBA China have reached a partnership through which the NBA will consult on the design and development of a multi-purpose, NBA-style arena in a new entertainment district in Xiamen's Jimei District. The official signing ceremony was attended by Li Yaoyue, district mayor of Jimei; Cheng Hong, president and chairwoman of Huahong Investment Co Ltd; and David Shoemaker, CEO of NBA China.

This partnership to build an arena consistent with NBA standards in Xiamen represents the first-ever state-of-the-art, multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena in Fujian province.

The Xiamen Arena will be developed on 101 acres of land located in the center of the Jimei New City near the Xiamen North Train Station and will serve as the city's premier sports and entertainment destination once complete. The arena is expected to be operational in early 2016 and is expected to host a variety of sports and entertainment events.

"Much progress has been made today on creating a large-scale international sports and entertainment district that combines the NBA's standards with Jimei's sports and culture, innovation and leisure and tourism industries," said Li.

"We will continue to provide all necessary support for the successful construction and operation of the Xiamen Sports and Entertainment District by creating an excellent environment with supporting facilities and services."

The NBA will consult on the development of the arena's design with partner Huahong Investment, who will oversee the marketing and promotion of the venue. The arena will incorporate standard features of an NBA-style venue such as a center court jumbotron, 360-degree LED signage, luxury suites, concession stands, VIP lounges and restaurants.

The Xiamen Arena marks the fourth significant arena initiative for the NBA in China, after the development and launch of the Beijing MasterCard Center, the Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena and the Guangzhou International Sports Arena.

"Our goal is to create the most advanced sports and entertainment venue in China," said Cheng.

"Through this newly-formed partnership with NBA China, we will create a one-of-a-kind, multi-purpose arena that will accommodate nearly any live sports or entertainment event, thus allowing Xiamen to further solidify its position as one of China's most attractive cities in which to live and work."

"We are proud and honored to be involved with this major NBA-style arena development for the city of Xiamen, which will not only bring tremendous benefits to the people of Xiamen but also to the whole of Fujian province, a region with deep roots in China's sports culture," said Shoemaker.

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Chinese coastal city builds 6-bln-yuan undersea tunnel

XIAMEN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A coastal Chinese city on Thursday started construction on a 6-billion-yuan (949 million U.S. dollars) undersea tunnel linking Xiamen's downtown island with its major industrial district.

The 9.03-km tunnel will link downtown Xiamen with Haicang District, the largest Taiwanese investment zone in the Chinese mainland in terms of size, when it is completed in 2016, local officials said. The bottom of the tunnel will be built 72.6 meters below the ocean surface.

Zhang Canmin, vice mayor of Xiamen, said the tunnel is key to building a network of highways to improve logistics in the economically robust region, which has been a focus of Taiwanese investment over the past three decades.

Xiamen was one of the first special economic zones China set up in the late 1970s and early 1980s to test market-oriented economic reforms. Business used to be centered in the city's downtown island but has gradually expanded to its mainland districts.

The Chinese mainland's first undersea tunnel, linking downtown Xiamen with the city's mainland Xiang'an District, opened to traffic in April 2010.

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New undersea cables to boost cross-Strait communication

FUZHOU, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The first undersea telecommunication cables linking Taiwan and the Chinese mainland started operating on Tuesday, the primary company behind the project said.

The two optical fiber cables, linking the city of Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province and Kinmen Island, will serve as a cross-Strait "information highway," said Wang Xiaochu, board chairman of China Telecom, the primary builder and operator of the line.

Wang said the designed capacity of the Xiamen-Kinmen cables, which were completed on June 22, is about 100 times the current telecommunication volume between the two sides.

Prior to the launch of the direct line, signals were sent via international cables after cross-Strait telecommunication services were opened in 1993.

Kao Mingshu, a Taiwanese businessman who lives in Xiamen and does business on the mainland, said the new cables would make communicating with his family in Taiwan much more convenient.

"Communication difficulties were the greatest concern for my family in Taiwan," Kao said. "The greater information efficiency will surely benefit cross-Strait links."

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Hengan unveils Xiamen hotel plan
The Standard
Monday, September 10, 2012

Hengan International (1044), the largest producer of sanitary napkins and baby diapers in the mainland, will expand into the domestic hospitality business.

The firm will spend HK$360 million to convert a building in Xiamen city, Fujian, into a hotel.

The blue-chip firm said since May 2010, it had been building a training center and office building in the central business district of Xiamen. But having considered the site's strategic location, it now wants to convert the structure into a hotel.

Hengan said it has inked a management contract for the hotel with US-based Hilton Hotel Management for 15 years. The firm estimates the hotel will be opened by October 2014.

Shares of Hengan rose 1.8 percent to HK$79.50 on Friday. So far this year the stock has climbed 9.4 percent.

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Philippines to reconstruct pavilion in Fujian to promote trade, tourism

MANILA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government will reconstruct in Xiamen, Fujian its pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai as part its trade and investment and tourism promotion effort, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

The DFA said the Department of Tourism (DOT) signed an agreement with China's Longquan Group last March granting to the latter exclusive rights to reconstruct the Philippine Pavilion in China.

The Philippine government said the Philippine Pavilion can be used to host trade exhibits, showcase locally-made merchandise, and as venue for cultural performances to elicit greater interest in the country among traders, business people, investors and tourists from southern China.

The DFA said the it will take about six months to one year to reconstruct the Philippine Pavilion.