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The four-star Zhuhai Paradise Hill Hotel, the first Sino-foreign travel joint venture (JV) in China, will be auctioned through open bid on July 7. The hotel was built after Macao's celebrated, Wu Fu, visited Zhuhai, one of China's four special economic zones in 1979. Encouraged by China's reform and opening-up policy, Mr. Wu decided to cooperate with the Zhuhai city government. Although strict restrictions at that time made it hard to set up such a company, local government overcame all difficulties and finally won the support of central government. The success of Zhuhai Paradise Hill Hotel attracted investors like Hong Kong celebrated Henry Ying Tung Fok. China's first group of Sino-foreign JVs like Zhuhai Hotel, Zhuhai Holiday Resort Hotel was set up one after another. In Guangzhou, some famous Sino-foreign Hotel JVs were born, including the White Swan Hotel, the Marriott China Hotel. As the first Sino-foreign travel JV, Zhuhai Paradise Hill Hotel contributed much to the development of China's tourism. Since the hotel opened its doors in the 1980s, it was taken as a business leader in Zhuhai for a long time. After the quitting of the Macao investor, the local government took over much of its stake. In early 2003, the Zhuhai city government planned to reform state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and so decided to sell the hotel through open bid. The hotel now has total assets of 190 million yuan (US$ 22.9 million) and debts of 141 million yuan (US$16.9 million). Its starting price at auction is about 58 million yuan (US$7 million). The auction has attracted lots of bidders, both domestic and overseas. Local officials predict that fierce competition will appear at auction.