The construction site of the new Beichuan county seat, Sichuan Province, on Feb 5, 2010. [Xinhua]

Construction of the new Beichuan County seat, which was devastated by the deadly earthquake in May 2008, will be finished in October this year, Wu Jingping, Party secretary of Mianyang City, said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.

More than 10,000 houses are being built in the new seat of Beichuan, about 23 km from the original location, Wu said.

"These houses, ranging from 70 square meters to 120 sq m, are being built as affordable or low-rent housing, and will help about 35,000 people," the mayor said, adding that roads, schools, hospitals and other infrastructure are also under construction.

The old town of Beichuan will be open to the public at the two-year anniversary of the earthquake in May this year. Some quake relics are to be preserved as sites for education and as a memorial, Wu said.

About 20,000 people became homeless in Beichuan after the quake, when most of the households lost their farming land.

"Our next step is to ensure that each household will own a piece of farming land or forest land, so they will be capable of making a living for themselves," Wu said.

The country has invested 615 billion yuan (US$90 billion) in the reconstruction of quake-hit Sichuan province.

A total of 21,944 projects, or 74 percent of the post-quake reconstruction program, have been completed in Sichuan. The province is striving to finish the three-year plan within two years, said Hou Xiongfei, chief of the Sichuan provincial government's information office.

Deyang, an important manufacturing base for industrial equipment, is taking the reconstruction as an opportunity to optimize economic structure with a focus on new energy industries, according to its mayor, Chen Xinyou.

The major enterprises, such as China National Erzhong Group Co and Dongfang Electric Corp, have expanded their business to the new energy industries.

"Currently, about 50 percent of the orders for nuclear power generating equipment are produced in Deyang, and the market share for wind power equipment has also been increased," Chen said.

Deyang was identified by the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in September 2008 as an international pilot city for clean energy technology and new energy equipment manufacturing.

(China Daily March 5, 2010)