China has used 6.2 billion US dollars in foreign funds for road construction from 1998 to 2003, said a senior official of the Chinese Ministry of Communications Wednesday in Xi'an.

Dong Xuebo, director general of the Planning Department under the MOC, made this remark during the third International Silk Road Conference held in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

He said this shows that foreign funds have become an important funding channel for China's road construction.

There are four major channels for China's road construction, which are, budget of central government and local governments, foreign funds and industrial loans. Foreign funds and private investment account for 5 percent of the total while industrial loans account for 50 percent.

China used the first foreign fund in 1988 when building the freeway from Beijing to Tianjin and then to Tanggu of Tianjin Municipality. At present, China has become an important partner and one of the largest borrowers of international funding agencies such as World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Dong said the foreign funds, especially loans from international financial organizations, have helped China to solve the problem of financial shortages and made historic contributions to China's road construction.

From 1990 to 2003, China has invested 2 trillion RMB yuan (about 241.5 billion US dollars) in road construction. In the next 20 to 30 years, China will build 80,000 kilometers of freeways, which will connect more than 300 cities.

"This program needs a large amount of money and I believe foreign funds will continue to invest in China's road construction," Dong said.