China completes world’s longest desert highway: VIDEO
China completes world’s longest desert highway
GBTIMES
2016/09/26
A 930-kilometre desert highway, hailed as the world’s longest, was completed on Sunday in Inner Mongolia, northern China.
The highway runs from Linhe district in Bayan Nur City Inner Mongolia to Baigeda on the border between Inner Mongolia and Gansu Province and crosses the Badain Jaran Desert, the third largest desert in China, according to China.org.
The landmark highway, which cost 37 billion yuan (US$5.55bn) to build, is part of the Jingxin expressway that links China’s capital Beijing and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the northwest of the country.
The over 2,500-kilometre Jingxin expressway that travels through remote areas such as the Gobi desert is expected to be fully operational in June next year, according to CCTV.
The highway project is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to improve connectivity and increase trade among countries along the ancient Silk Road from Asia to Europe and Africa.
