The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced on Wednesday that it
will offer loans of US$200 million to fund a road project in
southwest China.
The loan will fund part of the Eastern Sichuan Roads Development
Project, which is estimated to cost US$1.42 billion.
According to the ADB, the project will serve the
poverty-stricken areas in the mountainous periphery of Sichuan
Province by connecting two major cities, Chongqing and Xi'an.
It will involve the construction of a 143-kilometer four-lane
toll expressway across mountainous terrain and upgrading of 430
kilometers of local roads that serve poor counties and
townships.
The project will also promote corporate governance by separating
expressway construction and operations from the provincial
government and building capacity in project management, quality
control, road safety, and monitoring and evaluation, said the
ADB.
"By developing an integrated expressway and complementary local
road network, the project will help improve access to markets and
social services for the rural poor residents in the area," said
Makoto Ojiro, principal transport economist of the ADB's East Asia
Department. "The project will reduce transport time and costs,
which should encourage investment, create jobs and increase
incomes."
The ADB viewed the project as critical, as movement of goods and
passengers by road are rapidly increasing in China.
From 1990 to 2005, passenger road traffic rose by an average 8.8
percent annually, while freight road traffic rose by 6.4 percent
annually. In Sichuan alone, road passenger traffic grew at an
average annual rate of 6.5 percent and road freight traffic by 4.3
percent.
(China Daily July 19, 2007)
