A total of 1.8 trillion yuan ($260 billion) is expected to be invested in road and rail transport infrastructure projects next year, Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng said at an annual working conference on Wednesday.
The country has stepped up efforts to bolster areas of weakness in infrastructure construction, and has increased support for land use, sea use and environmental assessments, Li said.
Much of the investment will go toward the building or renovation of 200,000 kilometers of roadways in rural regions, and efforts will be strengthened to ensure economically struggling villages are connected with other regions, he said.
One of the ministry’s main targets for next year is to continue supporting the construction of roads in underdeveloped areas so as to ensure they have highway access by 2020, he said.
So far this year, 88.3 billion yuan has been invested in building rural roads to help alleviate poverty, with the amount invested up 14.6 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.