China’s massive new highway projects unveiled

Plans for massive highway construction projects have been unveiled in China. A 451km highway has been announced that will connect the cities of Yibin an Panzhihua. This is expected to cost as much as US$12 billion, with two firms carrying out the project under the build-operate-transfer model. Construction is due to commence later this year and is expected to take five years to complete. Meanwhile in Yunnan Province, the authorities are planning two highway projects worth a total of $3.75 billion. A new 50km route will be built by contractor Honghe, which will connect Stone Forest with Luxi County, cutting the journey by the existing route by around 40km. Honghe is also to build a 127km link in Yunnan Province.