China's expressway network links 95% of population

China has made solid progress in building a national road network to improve inter-area transport layout and increase traffic capacity, with its expressways linking about 95 percent of the population, official data showed. At present, the expressway network covers 98.8 percent of cities with an urban population of over 200,000 and prefecture-level administrative centers, while linking around 88 percent of county-level regions, said Wang Tai, from the Ministry of Transport, at a press conference Monday.

National highways also basically cover administrative areas at and above county level and border ports open all year, Wang said.

As of the end of last year, China had built 117,000 kilometers of national expressways and seen 257,700 kilometers of national highways open to traffic.

The country aims to build national roads with a total length of about 461,000 kilometers by 2035, according to a circular released earlier this year.

China will also step up green road construction by enhancing the effective use of resources, protecting ecological environment along the roads and effectively reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions.