Chinese-Italian Joint Venture Sodium Citrate
               Project Starts Construction
The Chinese-Italian joint venture sodium citrate  project
        approved by  the  State  Development  and  Planning
Commission will start construction in Sanmenxia of  Henan.
A signing ceremony has been held in Beijing.
  The project has a total investment of 440  million  yuan.
The Chinese side holds 40% stakes  and  the  Italian  side
holds 60% stakes. The duration of joint venture is 23 years.
The world advanced one-step fermentation process  will  be
used with short process  flow,   low  energy  consumption,
small sewage discharge and no solid wastes. The purity  of
high-grade sodium citrate can reach 99.5%. The project can
produce 6 000 tons of industrial-grade sodium citrate  and
4 000 tons of pharmaceutical-grade sodium citrate a  year.
The products will all be for export. The project can  also
produce 350 tons of feed additives as by-product.