China to spend big on roads, rail

China plans to spend around US$250 billion on expressway expansion projects over the next 30 years and a further US$190 billion on rail network improvements by 2010, state media said Thursday. According to an AP report, the Ministry of Communications wants to more than double the existing expressway network to 53,000 miles (84,800 km), largely to cope with increased vehicle ownership, which rose 30% between 1985 and 2004. Western China would get US$138 billion of the total pot, with US$39 billion going to eastern China and US$66 billion to the country's central regions. Under the rail development plan, the network will be enlarged by 20% and considerable investments will made into new trains, tracks and civil engineering.