By IANS,
Beijing: China will set up an 85,000-km national freeway road network and a 40,000-km high-speed railway network during the next five years, an official said.
The freeway network will cover all cities with a population of at least 200,000, while high-speed railways will link cities with more than 500,000 residents, Wu Xiao, the official at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was quoted as saying by China Daily.
“The government has eased transport capacity pressures and virtually solved many problems regarding economic and social development,” Wu said at a regional workshop on transport infrastructure in Beijing jointly held by the central government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
China’s annual investment in transport fixed assets and highway construction now exceeds 1.1 trillion yuan (about $165 billion), the daily said.
“Although China has made great improvements in transport development, transport in western areas is still underdeveloped,” said Li Yong, deputy minister of finance.
The next five years of 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) is a critical period for China to promote transport infrastructure construction together with other Asian countries, he added.