Aerial photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a section of the Yetimbulak-Ruoqiang expressway in Ruoqiang County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo by Wang Yongqiang/Xinhua)
URUMQI, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to invest 83.2 billion yuan (about 12.3 billion U.S. dollars) in road construction in 2023, according to the regional transport department.
The investment will be allocated to 66 road construction projects, of which 22 will be completed within this year, said Li Xuedong, deputy director of the department.
Over recent years, Xinjiang has seen robust development in transportation infrastructure. "In 2022 alone, Xinjiang spent more than 74.8 billion yuan in road construction, a new height since 2018," said Li.
The total length of expressways in Xinjiang has reached 11,000 km. All prefecture-level localities and nearly 90 percent of county-level localities have been accessible by expressways.
In June last year, a new highway traversing the Taklimakan Desert was put into operation.
Located in south Xinjiang's Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, the highway connecting Yuli County and Qiemo County is the third one across the Taklimakan Desert, the world's second-largest shifting sand desert. ■
