Central China's Henan Province will invest 6.5 billion yuan (US$812.5 million) this year in building highways in rural areas, sources with the provincial government said Wednesday.

It plans to build and repair 19,000 kilometers of highways in rural areas and ensure 10,000 villages have access to highways in 2006.

The province invested 6.1 billion yuan (US$762.5 million) last year in building and renovating 20,000 kilometers of rural highways and mending cement roads in 5,800 villages.

By the end of last year, the total mileage of the rural highway network reached 125,000 kilometers. Ninety-eight percent of the villages in the province have had access to highways.

(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2006)