The Chongqing Monorail initiated full service on June 18:
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/mediamonitor/article_1015983.php/Japan-funded_monorail_inaugurated_in_Chinas_Chongqing
Japan-funded monorail inaugurated in China's Chongqing
Jun 18, 2005, 10:40 GMT
Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo
Chongqing, China, 18 June: A ceremony was held Saturday [18 June] to mark the inauguration of a 13.5-km monorail in Chongqing, central China, with Japanese bureaucrats and top businessmen attending, as the project was largely funded by Japan's yen loans.
"We hope that this facility will be used and loved by Chinese citizens for long and will become a bridge nurturing friendly ties between Japan and China," Satoshi Iwamura, Japan's vice-minister for land, infrastructure and transport, said in a speech.
The Japanese government financed a 27bn-yen portion of the 47bn-yen monorail project, whose construction began in 2000.
The monorail is the first to be built in China with Japanese technology. It was constructed by Hitachi Ltd and a Chinese railway car manufacturer in the northeastern province of Jilin, with Hitachi providing the Chinese firm with its monorail designing technology and operation management know-how.
Chongqing Mayor Wang Hongju said at the ceremony, "The monorail provides a range of advantages in that it does not produce much noise and does not take up much land. In addition, it helps ease traffic congestion."
"This monorail can transport 200 million passengers annually, so we are planning to extend the route in the coming years," said Wang. Chongqing is a key location for the Chinese government's plan to expedite the development of the Chinese inland.
The event was also attended by Nippon Steel Corp Chairman Akira Chihaya and other Japanese businessmen, who came at the Chinese invitation.
Chihaya is set to become the next chairman of the Japan-China Economic Association, a group of Japanese business organizations promoting economic links with China.
The ceremony likely signals that the economic ties between the two countries remain strong despite bilateral political relations having soured in recent years, mainly due to repeated visits by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and other senior Japanese politicians to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honours Class-A World War II war criminals as well as Japan's war dead.
Anti-Japanese sentiment is said to be strong in Chongqing, the largest of China's four provincial-level municipalities, as many local people were killed there during the Sino-Japanese War in bombings by Japanese warplanes.
Observers said China wanted to impress the Japanese side with the day's ceremony to stress the importance of Japan's continued economic cooperation and investment in China, as Tokyo plans to end its yen loans to the country, which has shown dramatic economic growth.
Japan's Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said in March that he has "basically agreed with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing that Japan will end fresh yen loans by the time of the Beijing Olympics" in 2008.
Since 1980, Japan has given China 3.133 trillion-yen in low-interest loans, 145bn yen in grants and 144bn yen worth of technical cooperation.
Source: Kyodo News Service, Tokyo, in English 0750 gmt 18 Jun 05
BBC Mon AS1 AsPol sg
Copyright 2005 BBC Monitoring Service distributed by United Press International
