An east-west thoroughfare connecting the southwest part of China with Southeast Asia is expected to open to traffic this year, an official with the Yunnan Provincial Communications Department revealed today.

This is a section on the No. 320 national trunk highway, which leads to Shanghai, China's leading industrial center. It starts from Qujing City, on the border of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, runs through this capital of Yunnan, Dali and Ruili, and links up with a highway in Myanmar.

The road is part of Yunnan's grand highway construction blueprint. The border province plans to invest 40 to 50 billion yuan in highway projects during China's Tenth Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005).

Yunnan's investment in new roads has surpassed 10 billion yuan in each of the past two years.

To date, Yunnan leads China in highway mileage, at 110,000 km, of which 517 km are expressways. All townships and 98 percent of the villages in Yunnan have access to highways.

( eastday.com February 21, 2002)