This was learned from a symposium held here on the implementation of the plan in coastal areas of Guangxi, which sits on the northern shore of the Beibu Gulf.

According to an official from the Guangxi regional development planning commission, the coastal highway will start at Beihai City in the east, and end at Fangchenggang City in the west, via Qinzhou, another coastal city.

The projected highway will be constructed in sections by Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang. The 15-km-long highway section connected with Yintan Beach at Beihai will be finished within this year.

The entire project will cost 3.3 billion yuan (about 398 million U.S. dollars).

Besides waterways, Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchengang are linked only by a railway line.

Li Zhaozhuo, chairman of the Guangxi regional government, has urged leaders of the three cities to pay great attention to the protection of farmland and the ecological environment when constructing the coastal highway.

(People's Daily 04/24/2001)