Competitive advantage of machinery industry in Sichuan Province

A complete infrastructure system has been formed in Sichuan’s traffic, energy sources and service facilities, whose overall development is being continuously improved.

Sichuan made outstanding achievements in its transportation construction, reaching a new high in 2004. Its investment in fixed assets was 17.99 billion yuan, ranking first in west China.

In 2004, the highway mileage opened to traffic was up to 113,000 km, including 11,000 km first-class and second-class highways, and the expressway mileage opened to traffic was 1,759km in Sichuan, maintaining a stable lead in west China. Additionally, Sichuan is equipped with a highway specially designed for heavy-duty transportation, with a bearing capacity up to 720t and surface headroom up to 9m, which is the only one in China. With regard to railway, there are 4 railways in Sichuan connecting with the national railway network, with a railway operating mileage up to 2,867 kilometers. The waterway transportation capacity is satisfactory. The total mileage of inland waterways reaches 11,000 km. An inland trade terminal with a stevedoring capacity of 550t has been equipped. Sichuan also enjoys convenient air transportation. There are more than 150 international and domestic routes available. In addition, the Lan-Cheng-Yu Refined Oil Pipelines with a handling capacity of 5 million tons will reduce the cost of petroleum transport to a large extent after it is built and put into use.

Sichuan is abundant in water, natural gas and many mineral resources. It enjoys abundant water resources whose potential power generation capacity reaches 103 million kW, ranking the first in China. Natural gas is another advantageous resource, whose proven reserve has reached 759.056 billion m3 by the end of 2000, coming in first in China.

The resource utilization cost is low, taking Chengdu City as an example: in 2004, the price for industrial water was 1.5yuan/m3 and the electricity price was 0.5yuan/kW, which are both lower than the charge standard of most China’s coastal cities.

Most cities and counties in Sichuan are fitted with perfect communication, financial, logistic, trading, hospital, education and entertainment service facilities. Sichuan enjoys a mild and moist climate and boasts of a good many of scenic spots, rendering good environment for your work and travel.