A 260 kilometer-long expressway,linking southwest China's Guizhou Province with neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, formally opened to traffic on Monday.

The four-lane expressway starts at Guiyang, capital of Guizhou Province, and ends at Xinzhai on the Guizhou-Guangxi border. It provides Guizhou with its first land link to the sea through Zhanjiang port in Guangdong Province.

In fact, it is part of a planned expressway that links the four regions in southwest and south China, namely Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangxi and Guangdong.

The construction of the expressway started in November 1997 and is completed a year and a half ahead of schedule.

The expressway cost 4.84 billion yuan and is partly financed by a loan from Japan.

(Xinhua 06/25/2001)