The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thursday approved a 312.5 million-US dollar loan to develop the road network in the western part of Hunan Province, south China.

The project supports the Chinese government's strategy to develop the country's western region by supplying a vital section of the Changsha-Chongqing corridor -- one of eight prioritized western corridors in the 10th Five Year Plan, the ADB said in a statement.

The project will construct a 173-kilometer, four-lane toll expressway from Changde to Huaihua, and upgrade 517 km of local roads servicing 404 poor villages. It will also provide consulting services and training to enhance construction quality, road safety, and project monitoring and evaluation, the ADB said.

The development of the road network in western Hunan will help transmit the benefits of the eastern region's economic growth to the poor western region. Some 1.9 million people, or 68 percent of the total population in the project area, will directly benefit from the project. Around 42 percent of these are from ethnic minorities.

The project area is largely rural and mountainous, and road infrastructure is inadequate to support economic growth, a necessary prerequisite to tackle poverty in the area.

Not only will transport providers, such as bus and truck operators, benefit, but also passengers and traders who will all enjoy speedier, more comfortable travel and improved road safety, the statement added.

The roads should also lower transport costs of agricultural inputs and outputs, and prove a spur to tourism in the area.

The total cost of the project is estimated at 778.1 million dollars equivalent and the project is due for completion in December 2009.

Source: Xinhua