Construction begins on intra-city highway in Guangzhou

Construction of a highway linking downtown Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and the city's booming district of Nansha started on Tuesday, according to local authorities.

The highway's section in Nansha, with investment of about 5 billion yuan ($693.8 million), will help upgrade a transportation network within the Pearl River estuary, connecting several expressways in the area. It will help shorten travel time from more than one hour to within half an hour from downtown Huangpu district to Nansha, part of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

"It will help tackle traffic problems and serve local economic development," said Qing Renjie, an official with the Nansha Construction Center.

The highway is one of several projects that started construction on Tuesday in Nansha, including a research and development center for intelligent driving control systems and a lithium battery manufacturing base.

Driven by an overall development plan for Nansha to deepen cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao issued by the State Council, China's Cabinet, in June of last year, many projects have started construction or have been put into operation.