China will invest a similar amount next year on transportation infrastructure as it did in 2017, with projects to include 5,000 km of new expressways, state media reported on Monday.
The planned investments, which also include renovation of 216,000 km of roads and increasing volumes at China's container ports by more than 15 percent, were outlined at a Ministry of Transport conference on Monday.
China has spent 2.12 trillion Yuan or $323 billion in the first 11 months of 2017, according to government data, slightly off pace to meet an investment target of 2.6 trillion Yuan set at the beginning of the year.
The transport ministry also said at the conference it would look to speed up the construction of logistics hubs and inland waterways, build more roads to reach rural areas, and look to push ahead of schedule projects such as the integration of Beijing, Hebei and Tianjin by improving road and rail links.
Infrastructure investment is expected to be among the biggest drivers of China's economic growth in coming years.
The statistics bureau said last month China's fixed-asset investment growth could quicken following a deceleration in January-October. It did not specify a time period.
President Xi Jinping has stressed the significance of construction, maintenance and operation of rural roads in the country’s battle against poverty.
Efforts should be made to build good roads in rural areas and maintain them to ensure a better quality of life for farmers and accelerate agricultural modernization, Xi said ahead of the national transport conference held on Monday.
The move to improve rural roads has produced tangible benefits in recent years, bringing more people and wealth to poor regions and rallying community support for the Communist Party of China, noted Xi, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
At the conference on Monday, transport authorities agreed to focus on prominent problems and improve policies and mechanisms to advance high-quality development of rural roads.
