US$ 250 million road loan for western China
03 December 2010
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$ 250 million loan for the completion of an expressway network in the Chinese province of Yunnan.
The loan will fund the Yunnan Integrated Road Network Development project - the completion of an east-west corridor transport route in western Yunnan which involves the construction of a new 135 km expressway.
The funds are the last of five ADB finace packages to support the roll out of the mountainous province's National Expressway Network Plan.
The latest ADB loan constitutes about 14% of the project's US$ 1.75 billion cost. The Chinese Ministry of Transport and Yunnan provincial government will fund the remainder, along with co-financing from Bank of China and China Construction Bank.
The Yunnan Provincial Department of Transport is the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion in December 2015.
About 9.7 million people are expected to benefit from the new road network, which is forecast to cut average travel times for users by -40% and reduce vehicle operating costs by -38% upon completion.
