New highway section in Beijing launched; region to see benefits

A 38-kilometer section of highway that connects Beijing's southern Daxing district with eastern Tongzhou district opened to vehicles on Monday at noon, bringing the larger 940-km project into full operation.

The section will ease Beijing's traffic burden and boost the economy in the wider Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei province region by shortening travel time, according to Beijing Capital Ring Expressway Co, which is in charge of the management of the 38-km section.

"Travel between Dachang and Langfang, Hebei, took an hour and 20 minutes because drivers had to detour to the 6th Ring Road in the capital. However, it now takes only 40 minutes via the newly built expressway," said Jing Yanhui, deputy general manager of the company.