Zhejiang Province in east China has increased efforts to build expressways in recent years and some 400 kilometers of them are now opened to traffic while another 1,000 kilometers are under construction in the economically developed coastal province.

According to official figures released on January 19, the province invested 6.25 billion yuan (753 million US dollars) last year in the construction of expressways.

This year, the province will continue to give priority to road construction. An official with the provincial transportation department said they will invested 14.34 billion yuan (1.71 billion dollars) in building highways, with eight billion yuan (966 million dollars) to be earmarked for expressway construction.

More than 230 kilometers of expressways will be opened to traffic in the province this year and all 1,400 kilometers could be completed by the year 2002, the official said.