Southwest China's Yunnan Province, a famous tourism destination, recently reported significant achievements in road construction as an effort to attract more travelers.

According to the provincial transport administration, total investment in road construction hit 13.8 billion yuan (US$1.67 billion) in 2003, up 25 percent over the previous year.

Priority was given to road links between Kunming, the capital city, and scenic resorts including Xishuangbanna, Dali, Lijiang and Diqing. A newly completed expressway between Kunming and Xishuangbanna reduced travel time from 16 hours to 11 hours.

Investment also went to roads linking remote areas. Last year, 744 km of new roads was built to connect mountainous counties and villages, according to the transport authority.

(Xinhua News Agency January 27, 2004)