China invests $121b on new roads in first nine months

China has invested 882.6 billion yuan ($120.85 billion) in 299 projects to build new expressways and highways with a total mileage of 9,645 kilometers from January to September this year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Among them, 34 major projects were launched in September, with a construction mileage of 2,132 kilometers and an investment of 385.3 billion yuan, accounting for about 43.7 percent of the total investment this year.

From January to September, a total of 337 expressways and national and provincial highway projects have been built across the country, with a total mileage of 9,756 kilometers and a total investment of 557.4 billion yuan.

Among them, 41 major projects have been completed in September, with a construction mileage of 1,441 kilometers and an investment of 125.1 billion yuan.

Since the beginning of this year, new progress has been made in the construction of a number of major projects. Many have been completed and opened to traffic, such as the expansion work of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway from Jinhua to the boundary of Zhejiang and Jiangxi.