Construction began Wednesday on a tunnel that will run under the seabed of Jiaozhou Bay between downtown Qingdao, a leading port city in east China's Shandong Province, and Huangdao, on the other side of the bay.

It is the second such marine tunnel in the country. The first seabed tunnel in China was built near Xiamen, a port in east China's Fujian Province.

With a budget of 3.18 billion yuan (about US$ 398 million), the seabed tunnel will also link in Tuandao Island and Xuejia Island, said local sources.

The tunnel will stretch 7.8 km and will have six lanes capable of accommodating vehicles at speeds of up to 80 km per hour.

The project, which was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission last January, will go into service sometime in the next four years, said a spokesman for Guoxin Industrial Co., builder of the seabed tunnel.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)