Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China will spend 5.7
billion yuan (about US$703 million) on highway construction across
the plateau region this year.
Zhao Shijun, chief of the Tibet Autonomous regional bureau of
communications, said that this year they will start construction on
21 highway projects and continue to build nine other road projects
including upgrading the highway connecting Nepal.
Known as the "roof of the world", Tibet has long had poor
roadways.
Up to now, highways have still not reached more than 1,000
villages in Tibet, while only half the region's roads in 73
counties have been topped with asphalt, said Zhao.
The central Chinese government invested 14.65 billion yuan
(about US$1.81 billion) in improving transport conditions in Tibet
over the past five years building and upgrading roads and highways
with a total length of 12,926 km.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2006)
