Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhaoqing Unify toll fee system
Beginning tomorrow at mid-night (March 31), Guangzhou, Foshan and Zhaoqing will unify their annual toll pass system. An annual toll pass bought in any of the 3 cities shall be valid across all 3 regions. This is a step to promote the integration of cities in the PRD. This new system will lead to a drop in municipal revenue by nearly 535 million yuan every year but should save drivers a considerable amount of money. It is also expected to benefit businesses, especially in sectors related to real estate, tourism and catering.

Companies donate water to help drought-hit regions
A severe drought is currently hitting southwestern China, causing a shortage of drinking water, damage to crops and heavy economic losses. Enterprises in Guangzhou are taking actions to help people in need. Our journalist Fangyan has the details:
The United Work Front Department of the CPC Committee is calling on the public to donate water to disaster-stricken regions and in just one day, the response from private companies in Guangzhou was overwhelming. One official told us:
"so far, we have received 4.7 million yuan of donations, that's a total of 158,000 boxes of pure water. Our donation hotline is open until mid-night and we are constantly receiving call-ins."

Speaking on behalf of private enterprises who have donated water, Huang Wenzi, from Star River Property Holding Limited said:
"Donating water, in a way for us to show our love. As entrepreneurs, we should treasure water resources and adopt water-saving measures in our own companies."

Expansion undergoing in Gongbei Checkpoint
Gongbei Checkpoint in Zhuhai, the second largest checkpoint in China, started undergoing renovation and expansion yesterday (Mar.29) to increase its handling capacity. This project costs 327 million yuan and is expected to be finished in August 2011. 80 new exit and entry lanes will be added so that the checkpoint will be able to handle a throughput of 350,000 passengers every day.

All Construction to Halt in September
All construction projects in Guangzhou must be completed before the end of September when a city-wide campaign to clean-up the roads and streets will commence. Guangzhou mayor Zhang Guanging announced this plan yesterday (March 29). He also asked authorities to pull down the walls surrounding parks to avoid segregating the green spaces from the rest of the city.