Shanghai started the second phase of construction on an expressway between Jiading in Shanghaiand Liuhe in Jiangsu Province on January 28.

The expressway is an extension of a road between Shanghai and Jiading. The 10.3-km-long expressway will cost 600 million yuan. When it is completed at the end of 2001, east China will have a 320 km new expressway.

Shanghai plans to invest 41 billion yuan over the next 10 years to extend the city's expressway from the present 91 km to 650 km.

Expressway construction in Shanghai is divided into three phases. Five roads with a total length of 180 km will be built in the first phase (2000-2002). The second phase (2003-2005) will build nine roads 350 km in length. The third phase to be completed by 2010 will concentrate on construction of a bridge linking urban Shanghai with Chongming Island.