Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, has so far used US$615 million of loans from the World Bank in financing the construction of high-grade roads and the renovation of highways in the region's rural areas since 1998.

Information from the regional bureau of communications said US$600 million of the loan packages have gone to building the Turpan-Urumqi-Dahuangshan graded highway, the Urumqi-Kuytun highway and the Kuytun-Sayram Lake highway, with a combined length of 852 km.

In the meantime, the region has also used US$15 million of World Bank loans in upgrading 12 roads in its rural areas, enormously improving conditions for local farmers and herders to travel around.

Xinjiang, with an area of 1.6 million sq km, is the largest provincial-level region in the country by territory. The region is now well connected up by 90,000 km of highways.

(Xinhua News Agency November 8, 2005)