Iraq has awarded a contract to a Chinese company for the construction of an industrial city in the Southern oil hub of Basra, an official has said.

The city will have an area of around 7.5-square-kilometres and will be dedicated to steel and other export-oriented industries as part of a drive to diversify sources of income, said Abbas Hayal, Director of the state-owned General Steel Company.

Hayal told the Iraqi News Agency on Monday that negotiations are underway with the Chinese firm but did not elaborate on the company or project costs.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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