New road brings Xinjiang closer

Distance to capital to be shortened by over 1,300 km

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in far northwestern China has just become a bit closer to the capital, as three sections of a new expressway along risky terrain opened to traffic on Saturday.

The new sections have a combined length of more than 1,200 kilometers. The 930-km Linhe-Baigeda section is in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region; the 134-km Baigeda-Mingshui section is in Gansu province; and the 178-km Mingshui-Hami section is in Xinjiang.