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Tibet to spend more on road construction by 2005
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-04-14 15:53
Tibet Autonomous Region in western China had more than 41,302 kilometers of
highways open to traffic at the end of 2003, with 3.29 km for every 100 square
kilometer of its territory on average, according to the regional administration
of highways.
Increasing government input accounted for the mileage. In the rural areas
alone, the spending on highway construction amounted to more than 530 million
yuan (US$63.86 million) last year, bringing highways in the region's rural areas
to a total of 28,914 km, covering over 70 percent of such areas.
Before the year 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded, there
was only one primitive road of one kilometer long in Tibet, which was used
exclusively for vehicles of the Dalai Lhama.
Massive road construction started on the Tibetan Plateau in the early 1950s.
On December 25, 1954, the Sichuan-Tibet and Qinghai-Tibet highways were open to
traffic, putting an end to the absence of standard highways in the region.
After five decades of effort, Tibet now has state highways from Lhasa to
Qinghai, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Xinjiang autonomous region as well as
to Nepal, and another 14 provincial-level highways.
According to the regional transport authority, Tibet is forecast to invest 14
billion yuan (US$1.67 billion) in highways for the 2001-2005
period.
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