Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words demand+help. 2 news.

CHINA Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's largest refiner, will complete construction of a 12.5-billion-yuan (US$1.7 billion) plant in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao by the end of next month to tap rising fuel demand. The project will help boost the state-controlled refiner's market share, parent China Petrochemical Corp said in its online newsletter Sinopecnews. It didn't say when the plant will start commercial operations.

RAPID urbanization as well as robust demand for homes will continue to boost the country's real estate industry in 2008, industry analysts said. Wei Bo, a property analyst with Central China Securities Company, sees three main factors as being responsible for the strong demand. "New demand from the country's urbanization progress, growing requirement for larger and better homes among the Chinese, as well as rising investments caused by the appreciation of the Chinese currency and the existing negative interest rates, will probably help the real estate industry's fortune for another year," Wei said. "We expect the industry to maintain its high pace of development and give it a 'better than broad market' rating." China is seeing probably one of the largest urbanization in the world. According to an earlier forecast by the United Nations, between 16 million and 22 million people will migrate from rural places to urban areas in the country each year from now