Chinese officials expressed their readiness to offer more support to the development of the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region Tuesday in Hong kong.

Liu Jiang, vice minister in charge of the State Development and Reform Commission, said at the first Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Cooperation and Development Forum that in drafting the nation's next five-year plan, regional development plans would be given priorities.

He said that the central government would support the construction and administration of land ports and help speed up the construction of large infrastructure projects.

Wang Zhaocheng, vice minister of Railways, said at the forum that the Pan-Pearl River Region railway construction will focus on increasing the passenger transportation capacity and the building of trans-city lines.

The new lines to be built will include those linking up Guangdong with the central and northern parts, the southeast coastal provinces and the Yangtze Delta Region, and those between the southwestern and eastern parts of China.

He said, as for the trans-city railway lines, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Guangzhou-Zhuhai lines will be built by 2010.

Zhang Chunxian, minister of Communications, said his ministry has drafted a plan to build 22 expressways with a total length of 30,000 kilometers in the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region in an effort to extend and consolidate Hong Kong's role as an international shipping and logistic center.

He added that among the 20 major ports to be built, nine will be in the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region.

Sun Gang, vice director of the National Tourism Administration, suggested closer cooperation in the region's tourism industry in a bid to enhance the competitiveness of the regional tourism market.

The three-day forum, opened here Tuesday, will continue in Macao and Guangzhou respectively.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta Region includes provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Fujian and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as well as the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.