Pearl River Delta expansion planned

China plans to build six new cities in the Pearl River Delta area of southern Guangdong province, the so called "workshop of the world," state press reported Sunday.

Each of the cities in the province, one of the country's economic engines that neighbours Hong Kong, will house one million people, the Xinhua news agency said, citing a plan unveiled by the Guangdong Development Planning Commission.

The ambitious development includes programs on infrastructure, environmental protection, wide application of information technology, and growth of the high-tech sector in the region, one of the major manufacturing centers of electronic goods.

Infrastructure construction has been targeted as the most important way to expand the delta, which accounts for one third of China's exports and contributes about 10 percent of the country's annual gross domestic product.

Guangdong is already home to three of China's five special economic zones -- the cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou -- set up to attract foreign investment and technology and lead China's market-oriented reforms.

Xinhua said that by 2010, the kilometers of expressway in the province is expected to double while the power generating capacity will reach 48.64 million kilowatts.