China's road and water passenger and freight transportation will double by 2020, and the number of vehicles will rise to 140 million, six times that at the end of 2003, a senior Chinese official predicted Thursday.

Weng Mengyong, Chinese vice minister of communications (MOC), made the prediction at the on-going Forum on Sustainable Development of China's Transportation.

He said that, by the year of 2010, China will be relieved from a tense transportation situation, which will help further the development of the national economy.

In 2020, the transportation situation will be further optimized,and the sector will start to meet challenges from the development of the economy, social progress and national security, Weng added.

Weng pledged that the MOC would adopt substantial, effective approaches in the construction of major national freeways to connect most of Chinese cities

He predicted that the current construction of the highways between provinces in western China, as well as those in the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, would be completed by 2010.

Statistics from the MOC showed that 1.81 million km of road wasbuilt by the end of 2003, covering 99.6 percent of townships and 91.9 percent of administrative villages around the country.

China has also built a 30,000-km network of highways, second longest in the world.

Source: Xinhua