OPINION> Commentary
Building pathways to prosperity for villagers
By Bian Yi (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-14 07:51

To minimize the impact of the international financial tsunami upon China and to contain the slowdown of the country's economic growth, the central government recently announced a staggering 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package for the next two years to reactivate domestic demands. As an immediate measure, it has also decided to allot an added 100 billion yuan for this year.

Of the additional 100 billion yuan government fund, about 10 billion yuan is to be spent on road construction, according to Li Xinghua, director of the planning department of the Ministry of Transport. "Our ministry is committed to expanding the investment scale to 1 trillion yuan the next year, and will try to maintain a 20 percent growth rate year on year for the ensuing ones," he said.

It is estimated that the additional 10 billion yuan road construction fund will bring an aggregate of 40 billion yuan investment within this year and contribute as high as 30 billion yuan to the national economy in the first quarter the next year.

According to the official, the added 10 billion yuan will be mainly used in the construction of the national-level highway network and rural roads, with a half-to-half investment ratio, and the money will mostly flow to the country's western and underdeveloped regions.

Upon the launching of the country's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), Minister of Transport Li Shenglin vowed to put rural road construction on top of the agenda of his ministry's work in the future. According to the national development program, a total 1.2m km of roads is scheduled to be built or rebuilt in rural areas during the 11th Five-Year. Its purpose is to make all townships and villages accessible to national roads, and 95 percent of townships and 80 percent of villages accessible to asphalt or cement-paved roads. It is expected that the new round of investment campaign will effectively ensure such an ambitious goal fulfilled.

So far, the ongoing project of the national highway network, scheduled to finish by 2020, is only half completed, with 14 percent of the planned length being built and another 26,000 km yet to be constructed. With about half of the 10 billion yuan government fund to pour into this field, the pending construction of these pivotal roads, mostly inter-provincial ones, will be stepped up.

That will greatly boost the country's road transportation capacity and sufficiency. Also, the widening of the roads vital to the national economic development and emergency work will be aided in the latest investment initiative. For example, to improve emergency responses, the Anyang-Xinxiang-Zhengzhou section of the Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Highway will be broadened from the previous four-lane road to an eight-lane one.

How to achieve an effective connection between roads and other transport means has long been a big concern. According to the latest investment program, 179 national-level road transportation hubs are due to be put into full operation with an overall consideration on how to better link roads to railways and airports. The construction and improvement of the seamless transportation grid nationwide will make ordinary people feel the tangible benefits brought about by a big leap forward in the country's transportation industry.

"The additional 10 billion yuan, which serves as a big supplement to the previous road construction plan, will not only speed up the ongoing projects and improve their quality, but will also fuel the development of other industries, absorb employment pressures and contribute to next year's economic growth," Li Xinghua said.

According to the Ministry of Transport, the investment in the fixed assets in the transportation field was 780 billion yuan last year, and of the amount 650 billion yuan went to road construction. The amount is estimated to be 800 billion yuan due to a contraction in the first three quarters' investment, and will reach 1 trillion yuan the next year, it said.

On an average, 1 km of highway construction will consume about 500 to 1,500 tons of steel, 4,000 to 12,000 tons of cement, and 1,900 tons of asphalt. At the same time, every 100 million yuan investment into highway construction will create about 1,800 direct jobs and 2,100 indirect ones. It is expected that the additional 10 billion yuan this year will multiply the country's demand for cement, steel, machinery and fuel and drive the cyclic development of relevant industries.

The accelerated development pace in central and western regions in recent years has to a large degree been attributed to the improvement of the country's transportation capacity, especially that of highways, and the all-dimensional transportation network.

The 10,000 km-long highway in the western regions, about one-fourth of the country's total, will play a positive role in promoting economic connections and interaction between the country's developed eastern and underdeveloped central and western regions.

"With a scientific and comprehensive arrangement, our ministry will step up ongoing construction projects and launch new ones. But we will put quality as top priority to ensure the government fund goes to the most needed places," he said.

(China Daily 11/14/2008 page8)