By Xinhua,
Beijing : The World Bank said Friday it approved loans totalling $450 million to finance road and rail projects in central and western China.
The bank said $300 million would help finance a 857-km rail line linking Guizhou and Guangdong provinces.
The project will provide direct connection between some of China’s poorest areas and the more developed Pearl River Delta region.
The new line would enable freight trains to run at 120 km per hour, improving cargo movements between the Pearl River Delta and southwest China, including other western provinces such as Sichuan and Yunnan.
The remaining $150 million would be spent on highway projects in central Hubei province that would connect the cities of Yichang and Badong.
The inter-city highway is part of a bigger network that connects more developed eastern regions with less developed western regions, the bank said in a statement.