A project to produce 1.8 million tons of alkali started recently in Northwest China's Qinghai Province with investment totaling 3 billion yuan (US$360 million).

Funded by the Zhejiang Glass Stock Co, Ltd, a private company in East China's Zhejiang Province, the project will produce pure alkali that can be widely applied in the glass, electric and metallurgy industries.

A new company will be established and the first phase of the project will be completed in 2005, when the company will have half of the designed output capacity, said Dong Ligang, general leader of the project.

When the second phase is completed in 2008, the project will realize the whole capacity of 1.8 million tons, which is the second largest in the nation, said Dong.

The project will be located in Delingha city, west of the province, in the 530,000-sq-km Qaidam, the largest basin in China.

Alkali production requires salt, limestone and coal, which can easily be found in Qinghai, and the project will also promote relevant industries in the local economy, said Zhu Jianhua, director with the planning and economy committee of the Haixi autonomous prefecture.

As required by the environmental protection authority, a fund of 100 million yuan (US$12 million) was allocated to control pollution from the project such as reducing water consumption and improving the recycling rate, said Zhu.

The project has been approved by the State Environmental Protection Administration.