Natural gas

CHINA’S natural gas consumption grew steadily in the first quarter amid the country’s fight against air pollution, Xinhua reported.

Apparent consumption of natural gas rose 11.6 percent during the January-March period from a year earlier to 77 billion cubic meters, following robust annual growth of 18.1 percent in 2018, Xinhua said, citing data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). According to a separate Xinhua article Saturday, China consumed 76.9 million tons of refined oil in the first quarter, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier.

Lotte project

LOTTE Group said it would resume work on a US$2.6 billion real estate project in China this month, after work was halted in 2017.

The South Korean real estate giant has invested about 3 trillion won (US$2.58 billion) in the project in China’s Shenyang where it plans to build a shopping mall, hotel, office block and apartments. The complex had been due for completion this year. “The local government in Shenyang gave us an approval in mid-April to resume our leisure complex project and we will resume construction in mid-May,” a Lotte spokesman said.

Foxconn project

FOXCONN chairman Terry Gou met U.S. President Donald Trump last week to discuss the status of the Taiwanese company’s planned investment in Wisconsin, Foxconn and the White House said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump met with Gou at the White House. She added without offering details that Gou was “spending a lot of money in Wisconsin and soon will announce even more investment there.”