Minister of communications Huang Zhendong said that China has made notable progress in the construction of traffic facilities over the past five years.

Huang made the remark at a recent national meeting attended by traffic administrative officials, held in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province.

Initial statistics show that 954 billion yuan (US$114.9 billion) were used in constructing traffic facilities during the past five years, accounting for 8.5 percent of China's total fixed assets investment.

Of the total number, 885.8 billion yuan (US$106.7 billion) were used to build highways. The total length of China's highways has been extended from the 1.16 million kilometers in 1995 to 1.4 million kilometers today. Expressways now total 16,000 kilometers compared with 2,141 kilometers five years ago.

At present, 98.3 percent of China's towns and 90 percent of its administrative villages have access to highways.

China has built 96 deep-water berths in the past five years, bringing the total number to 599.

Coastal harbors in China now boast a combined handling capacity of 1.38 billion tons annually, 72.5 percent more than that for 1995. Shanghai harbor, for example, can handle 200 million tons of cargo a year.

Huang Zhendong said that improved traffic facilities have greatly enhanced the transportation by highway and waterway.

(Xinhua 01/18/2001)