Legality of Investing in Urban Gas Supply Networks

The West-to-East natural gas transmission pipeline project has received considerable international interest because of the complexity of the project and the sheer size of the investment and construction required.  The project is also significant in terms of the on-going efforts of the PRC government to improve environmental conditions in the country, particularly in connection with Beijing¡¯s bid for the 2008 Olympics.

Preferential Treatment

As a legal matter, the project will certainly be groundbreaking in a number of areas. In order to increase the attractiveness of the project to foreign investors, the PRC government has already announced various preferential policies, which will specifically - and for the time being only - apply to the West-to-East gas transmission project. One such policy is the opening of urban gas supply and distribution networks to foreign investment.