Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China has invested a total of 33 billion yuan (US$4.125 billion) over the past five years in highway construction in both urban and rural areas.

According to a work conference of the regional transport department, the money was used to build nearly 90,000 kilometers of roads across the region during the country's 10th-Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) for National Economic and Social Development.

The investment in highway construction during that period was three times more than the total during a period spanning 45 years from 1955 to 2000.

So far, a comprehensive road network has been built up in Xinjiang, consisting of 541 kilometers of expressways, 884 kilometers of first-level highways and over 90,000 kilometers of roads.

By the end of 2005, Xinjiang had completed construction or reconstruction projects on seven national highways between its major cities with a length of 10,000 kilometers.

Meanwhile, Xinjiang used 5.1 billion yuan (US$634.55 million) to build or rebuild 18,000 kilometers of roads linking 1,500 villages across the region in a bid to promote rural economic development.

During the 11th Five-Year Guidelines (2006-2010), Xinjiang will exert further efforts to promote traffic, especially road construction in rural areas, with the aim of providing economically backward counties and remote villages access to the outside world.

China is making efforts to accelerate rural reform and governments at all levels are working hard to improve agricultural infrastructure, such as road construction, telecommunications and electricity networks in rural areas.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn, March 4, 2006)