China’s XUAR to inject $25bln in roads construction

BEIJING. KAZINFORM 170bln yuan or $24.8bln will be injected this year in roads construction in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This amount is 6-fold higher against the last year indicator, Kazinform correspondent reports citing Chinese central media.    

According to Zhang Chunlin, Chief of the Xinjiang Development and Reform Commission, the region is going to invest 8.1bln yuan in construction of railways and 4.8bln yuan in civil aviation projects. The total amount of investments is 50% higher compared to 2016. The amount of investments in transport sector is expected to exceed their total volume during 2011 - 2015.

Construction of highways is a priority for the region which takes up 1/6 part of the Chinese territory. 40% of the cities and counties in the region are not connected with highways.

Upon completion of construction of the network of highways, logistical costs in the region may reduce by 30%. In 2017, the region will begin construction of 6,096km of highways.

The new projects will enable the region to employ more local citizens and boost economic growth.

 

Chinese authorities hope that the Xinjiang which shares borders with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and other countries, will become a key commercial center of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” project.