SOUTH China's Hainan province plans to invest CNY10.5 billion (US$1.65 billion) in construction for highway and shipping lanes this year, reports Xinhua.

The highway investment will reach CNY8 billion while that for shipping will stand at CNY2.5 billion, the total of both first exceeding CNY10 billion in the province's history.



A 35.4-kilometre highway, costing CNY1.12 billion, is to start construction this month. Another highway, the 8.2-kilometre Yangpu Bridge's South Connecting Line costing CNY500 million will be put into service this September. The CNY1.29 billion provincial West Expressway is scheduled to open this October.