China will spend US$6.7 billion over a four-year period on 37 new airports and the expansion of 31 others in the west of the country, AFP reported, citing state media. The civil aviation authorities said that China's western regions account for just 38% of the country's airports, with the remote northwest particularly deprived. It is hoped that large-scale construction projects will boost economic development in the west. The airport planned for Tibet will be the highest in the world at over 4,000 meters above sea level, the report claimed. Tibet currently has only two airports: one near the capital in Lhasa, the other in Qamdo prefecture in the east.
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