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China to restore power cut before New Year break

China aims to restore most of its power lines before the Lunar New Year and reopened its airports even as more snow is forecast in the country's heaviest snowstorms in half a century.

The country needs to "ensure" the restoration of most electricity networks before the holiday, which starts on Wednesday, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The worst affected are Hunan, Jiangxi and Guizhou provinces, which have only half their normal power capacity, it said.

More than two weeks of snow in central and southern China have brought transport networks to a standstill, killed at least 60 people and 15.8 million livestock and caused economic losses of at least 53.8 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion). The snow is forecast to continue until tomorrow after a temporary halt yesterday, Xinhua news agency said, citing the Central Meteorological Station.

"We have the faith, courage and ability to overcome the severe natural disaster," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), who was on board a train to disaster-hit central Hunan Province, was cited as saying by Xinhua.

PetroChina Co (中石油) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (中石化), China's two largest oil refiners, were asked to "prioritize" oil supplies for power line repairs, the commission, the country's top economic planner, said in its statement yesterday.

China has mobilized all its railway container trucks to ensure the transport of coal, Xinhua said yesterday, citing the Ministry of Railway. Coal shipments were increased to a record 42,200 trucks a day from Friday, it said. China relies on coal for 78 percent of its electricity.

By Thursday, domestic coal producers had total inventory of 34.7 million tonnes, 11.3 percent lower than the end of last year and down 1.8 percent from the same period a year earlier, Xinhua said, citing figures released by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

As much as 90 percent of key state-owned coal mines have been asked to continue production during the Lunar New Year holiday, it said, citing SAWS. Shenhua Group Corp (神華集團), China's biggest coal producer, could produce 20.2 million tonnes this month, higher than last month's 18 million tonnes, Xinhua said.

All airports were open yesterday, Xinhua said, citing the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China. On Saturday, the official news agency had said airports in Hangzhou and Ningbo were closed.
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