UAE invests in NW China tourism resort

The United Arab Emirates and China have agreed to push forward the construction of a joint tourism resort project in northwest China's Ningxia region.

Liupan Mountain international resort in Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, will cover an area of 817 hectares. The UAE will invest 900 million yuan (141 million U.S. dollars) in the first phase of the project, which costs a total of 1.1 billion yuan.

The UAE will be in charge of the design and construction of the resort, said Zhang Zongxin, deputy head of the administration committee of the Liupan Mountain tourism and poverty alleviation experimental zone.

The deal was reached during the China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia in 2013.

The resort will open to global tourists and boost the opening up of the inland region, said Zhang.

A construction administration team from the UAE will come to Guyuan to fix the construction schedule after the Corban Festival, or Eid al-Adha, said Sultan Almatrooshi, deputy chairman of the Royal Investment Bureau of the UAE.

The project will complete construction in two years, he said during a tour to Ningxia last week, adding it will become an excellent cooperation project.

Ningxia is the largest Muslim community in China. About 36 percent of its population are Muslim Hui. A direct flight between Yinchuan and Dubai was launched on Sept. 4. Endi