China will host an international road transport conference in Beijing on Sept. 26-27, Feng Zhenglin, vice minister of Communications, said Monday.

During a press conference, Feng said this is the first international conference ever to be held in China in the field of road transport.

"Enhancement of the connectivity and promotion of the development of Euro-Asian road transport" will be the theme of the Third Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference.

A large-scale exhibition of road transport industry will be staged in conjunction with the Conference.

The conference delegates include more than 20 ministers from European and Asian countries, representatives of UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), World Bank, World Trade Organization and other international organizations and financial institutions as well as world-famous multinational logistics corporations including UPS, FedEx and DHL.

It is estimated that the conference delegates from home and abroad will reach 500 and 300 respectively. The conference aims to promote regional transport cooperation and enhance Euro-Asian road transport development.

This meeting will be jointly hosted by the Ministry of Communications and the International Road Transport Union (IRU), and undertaken by the China Road and Transport Association (CRTA).

By the end of 2004, over 60 ports in China had been opened to international road transport with more than 140 routes for passengers and cargo transport with neighboring countries. China has also signed ten bilateral inter-governmental road transport agreements with countries such as Russia and Mongolia.

The first and second Euro-Asian Road Transport Conference were held in Russia and Iran.

Source: Xinhua