The Chinese government will invest 50 billion yuan (6.02 billion US dollars) in rural infrastructure construction this yer, according to the State Development and Reform Commission.

The figure was released Monday at a working meeting on rural economy attended by representatives from development and reform departments.

Though the central government has cut treasury bond investment this year, 30 percent of the bond, or 40 billion yuan (4.82 billion US dollars), has been earmarked for agriculture-related infrastructure construction, about five percentage points up from the previous year.

Together with investment from the central government's budget, the investment added up to 50 billion yuan (6.02 billion US dollars), said Liu Jiang, deputy director of the State Developmentand Reform Commission.

The investment will be used mainly on projects such as traffic,irrigation and electric systems in the countryside and priority will be given to the western areas and major grain production centers.

Source: Xinhua