Beijing-Shanghai Expressway Put into Use

Beijing-Shanghai Expressway Put into Use

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The Beijing-Shanghai Expressway is operational, announced Huang Zhendong, Minister of Communications Monday, December 18.

The 1,262-km expressway, which cost a total 39.3 billion yuan, is mainly four-laned and connects the Municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai and provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu,said Huang at a press conference held here.

As a major transport channel joining east China to north China,the expressway will help relieve the traffic tension between the two metropolises, improve the local investment environment and speed up urbanization, according to Huang.

The four major expressways of Beijing-Shenyang, Shenyang-Changchun-Jilin (City), Beijing-Shanghai and Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo, with a total length exceeding 2,500 km, have united China's main economic zones, including the Beijing-Tianjin region, the Bohai Bay region and the Yangtze Delta.

Huang also revealed that the total length of expressway in China will reach 16,000 km by the end of this year, making it the third longest in the world, and the figure will exceed 25,000 km by the year 2005.