By the year of 2010 road will be extended to all towns and administrative villages of proper natural conditions in west China, Weng Mengyong, vice communications minister, said at the 2004 West China Forum held in Nanning.

The transportation objective for west China in the first two decades of the century is to achieve a fresh leap forward. If the current construction speed continues, by the end of 2007 we will build an overall trunk-line network, Weng said; by 2010, highway network linking provinces will be basically completed, extending the total highway mileage in west China to over 940,000km and expressway mileage to more than 20,000km. Road will be extended to all towns and administrative villages whose natural conditions are suitable for road construction.

In the past four years a total investment of 346.9 billion yuan was put in construction of transportation facilities in west China, but the proportion of second-level (and above) highway in total mileage is only one third that of eastern regions.

It is learned that the Ministry of Communications has finished formulating plans for the layout and development of the national expressway network, rural road, port and inland river navigation lane, which, after state approval, will become an important guidance for overall, coordinated and sustained transportation development in the west.

By People's Daily Online