The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday said it is assisting the construction of an expressway in south China that incorporates, for the first time of ADB's China projects, traffic safety strategy aimed at reducing road accidents.

The 64km expressway between Wuding County and Kunming City in Yunnan Province is expected to take four years to completeand cost around US$745 million. ADB will provide a US$200 million loan, while Yunnan provincial government, the Ministry of Communications, and domestic banks will furnish the rest of the funding.

The project will supplement other transport corridors built linking China with its neighbors in the Greater Mekong Sub-region to boost trade, tourism and regional integration.

ADB said a key element of the project will be a program that aims to build in low-cost, efficient counter-measures and develop strategies to reduce the number of accidents.

This is the first time a specific program addressing local roadsafety issues has been included in an ADB road loan to the country,the multilateral lender said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2008)