Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd, the country's iron giant, will establish a supporting facility in the Antarctic.
The company will donate a power generating building called Baosteel Building to China's Great Wall Station in the region.
Top level executives of Baosteel Group and high-level officials of the Arctic and Antarctic Administration jointly announced the plan at a signing ceremony held on a vessel heading for the South Pole.
"The power generating building is the core part of the station. The old building, after braving 16 years of severe cold, is dilapidated and has lost some of its functions. As soon as Baosteel Group learned about this, they took the initiative and contacted us and said they would set up the building free," said Chen Liqi, director of the China Arctic and Antarctic Administration.
The new building will be made of newly developed coloured steel plates, valued at more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000).
"The new steel plates containing fluorine and carbon can sustain bitter cold as low as 30 degrees below zero," said Wang Yu, deputy general manager of Shanghai Baosteel Xin-xin Sandwich Panel Co Ltd.
(China Daily 04/18/2001)
