WB-Backed Highway in Guangxi to Start ConstructionPreparations for the World Bank financed high-grade expressway from Hechi City, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to Nanning, the regional capital, have been completed and the construction will start late this month.Eight Chinese companies, which were granted the rights to build 10 sections of the highway after winning an open bidding, have signed contracts to begin civil engineering, said sources from the regional bureau of communications. The highway, with a full length of 236 km, will start in Shuiren Village in Hechi City, traverses five cities and counties, and ends in the suburbs of Nanning by connecting to the Guilin- Beihai expressway there. The Du'an-Nanning section of the highway, which will be 139.17 km long, will be built in accordance with expressway standards, and the remaining part of the highway will be constructed according to the second-grade highway requirements, said an official from the regional bureau of communications. The highway is an important part of the national highway from southwest China's Chongqing Municipality to Zhanjiang, a port city in south China's Guangdong Province. It is also one of the eight thoroughfares the state has planned for construction to facilitate the implementation of the country's campaign to open up vast western China. According to the official, the project will cost 4.3 billion yuan (about US$518 million), of which, US$200 million worth of investment will be covered by WB loans. |
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