HANOI - China's Guangdong Provincial Changda Highway Engineering Co Ltd on Sept 5 kicked off construction of a highway project to link the Vietnamese capital Hanoi and city Haiphong.

Vice-governor of China's Guangdong province Zhao Yufang, governor of Vietnamese Hai Duong province Nguyen Manh Hien, representatives of Chinese Embassy in Vietnam, project owner and contractor attended the ground breaking ceremony in Vietnam's northern Hai Duong province.

Addressing the ceremony, Zhao said that in recent years, the economic, trade and investment cooperation between China's Guangdong province and Vietnam has achieved remarkable success. The construction of Hanoi to Haiphong highway project would bring the cooperation to a new stage.

She said with a high sense of responsibility, the Chinese company would complete the task of construction project with success and high quality. She hopes the two sides will continue joining hands to intensify support for the project, and the friendly cooperation between China's Guangdong province and Vietnam.

Chairman of the Changda Highway Engineering Company Liu Gangliang said the Hanoi-Haiphong highway project was the Vietnam' s key infrastructure construction project, as well as one of the content of the "two corridors and one ring" plan made by the Chinese and Vietnamese governments.

"We will work closely with the project owner to make a high- quality and efficient completion of the project," Liu said.

Dao Van Chien, general manager of Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Company, the project owner, said the project, which links the Vietnamese capital and northern major port, would alleviate the congested traffic from Hanoi to Haiphong, improve logistical effectiveness and play an important role for the economic development in Vietnam.

The Hanoi-Haiphong highway project, which is designed with a total length of 105 km, two-way 6-lane, and top speed of 120 km, is a key infrastructure project in northern Vietnam.

The Changda Highway Engineering Company tenders construction length of 15.3 km, the longest contract for the whole project, with the contract value of $180 million. The project, signed in January this year, is so far the largest project of Guangdong enterprises in ASEAN countries.