China to Build More Subways

China plans to build more subways in large cities each with a population of more than one million.
So far, about 15 out of the 34 big cities have already submitted applications to the State Development Planning Commission for building subways, the  Business Weekly reports.

Subway lines proposed total 430 kilometers, requiring estimated investments of 140 billion yuan (16.8 billion US dollars).

Experts said that developing rail transportation is a fundamental way for the country's big cities to solve transportation problems.

With the development of the national economy and imminent urbanization, the number of automobiles has been increasing at a speed much faster than that of road construction, they said.

Many large cities have eyed subways to deal with worsening traffic congestion in the 1990s. Work on several new subway lines in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing is now underway.