The World Bank has agreed to grant US$100 million in loans to a
state highway construction project in north China's Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region, local government sources said on
Monday.
According to the regional transport authority, the credit will
account for one-third of the total project investment estimated at
about 2.18 billion yuan (US$262.7 million).
??
The project involves the construction of a first-class road from
Hailar to Manzhouli of Inner Mongolia, which is the last section of
the state highway linking Manzhouli with Suifenhe, in northeast
China's Heilongjiang
Province. The Suifenhe-Manzhouli line is one of the seven major
east-west state highways under the plan of the Ministry of
Communications.??
The Hailar-Manzhouli section is located in the Hulun Buir League
of Inner Mongolia and will serve as a key channel for trade between
the northern and northeastern parts of China, as well as between
China and its neighboring countries such as Russia and
Mongolia.??
The regional transport authority of Inner Mongolia said that
construction of the Hailar-Manzhouli section would start this year
and be completed in 2008.?
(Xinhua News Agency May 2, 2005)