$6.6b to fund rural roads promise

The Ministry of Transport will spend an additional 45.4 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) on rural roads in the next two years.

The move is aimed at achieving a promise within the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) that almost all rural townships will have access to asphalt or cement roads.

The additional spending will be funded by purchase taxes on vehicles, ministry sources said.