China Huadian Corp., one of China`s five largest power producers, plans to invest more than 50 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) in ports, power plants and coal- to-chemicals projects in the northern province of Hebei.

China Huadian signed an agreement with the city of Tangshan on Oct. 30 to construct a “large-scale`` energy project at the Caofeidian port, the Beijing-based company said in a statement on its website.

The spending plans were outlined shortly after China stressed the need for investment as the pace of economic expansion slows.

The government should keep macro-economic policies flexible, boost domestic consumption and maintain a “reasonable” level of investment after the nation`s third-quarter economic growth reached the slowest pace in five years, Premier Wen Jiabao wrote in a party magazine on Nov. 1.

In 2005, the China Daily reported that Hebei province plans to spend 100 billion yuan to redevelop the Caofeidian port.

  (editor: annie)