China would spend 120 to 150 billion yuan (US$17.6 to 22 billion) on transport infrastructure in its far-western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region over the next five years, the regional government said Saturday.

The money will be used to build new roads and renovate old ones to support Xinjiang's "leapfrog development" promised by the central government earlier this month, according to a statement issued after a conference of the Ministry of Transport and Xinjiang's regional government.

The paved roads to be built or renovated will reach 75,000 to 80,000 kilometers in the region where there were just 15,000 kilometers of paved roads in place by the end of last year, said Song Airong, a regional Party official.

Xinjiang's current 838 kilometers of highways will also be extended to 4,000 kilometers over the next five years, he said.

The central government unveiled a policy package last Thursday to support the development of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, setting a goal that the region should undergo a spurt in development so that by 2015 its per capita gross domestic product could reach the national average.

Under the package, fixed asset investment in Xinjiang in the next five years will be more than double the amount in the current five-year plan that ends this year.