Work has started on a land reclamation project in Shenzhen, a special economic zone in south China's Guangdong Province, local government sources announced on Thursday.

Over the next five years, the city plans to invest six billion yuan (US$759 million) in the project, which is expected to create 13.78 square kilometers of land, the sources said.

The first phase involves the construction of an embankment that will take 18 months to build at a cost of 400 million yuan (US$50.6 million). Sixteen highways will also be built with a combined length of 29.3 kilometers.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2010. 

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2006)