The central government will spend nearly 3 billion yuan for regional airport expansions. While around 10 billion yuan will be used for road construction in general, with another 10 billion yuan to be specifically invested in the construction of highways and rural roads.

He Jianzhong said "It's estimated that our fixed-asset investment this year could reach 800 billion yuan, while the amount could be 300 billion in the 4th quarter alone. Our investments will be in the trillions over the next 2 years. Our investments will be concentrated in the central and western regions, because those places need to build more bridges and tunnels, so they require more steel and cements. So we should give them more support."

Guan Changyu, Deputy Director of Planning & Design Inst. of Ministry of Transport said "One kilometer of road will consume 9,000 tons of cement, and 1,000 tons of steel. So far we have nearly 12,000 kilometers of highways under construction. So a one hundred million yuan road construction project could provide 1,800 jobs, and nearly 2,100 in indirect employment."

China has 85,000 kilometers of highways at the moment, but nearly 14 percent of that is still under construction. The Ministry of Transport says the country will speed up its projects and simplify application procedures to improve efficiency.

(CCTV November 12, 2008)