NDRC: China congestion critical because new roads are too narrow

AN official from the powerful National Reform and Development Commission says China's highways are almost as long as they are in the US, but they are too narrow to avoid severe congestion.

In length, China has as almost as much expressway infrastructure as the US does and fewer vehicles - 100 million against America's 200 million - but congestion in China is far worse because US roads are wider, said the NDRC's Song Chaoyi.

Mr Song said there are 12-lane expressways in the US, but the newest expressways in China only have eight.

Speaking at a recent Sino-American logistics conference in Shanghai he said that by 2013, the length of China's expressways will run to 96,000 kilometres, close to that of the United States.

Statistics show that as of the end of 2011, China's expressways totalled to 85,000 kilometres. An extra 11,000 kilometres' new expressways will be added to its network this year.

Though China's road lengths have grown rapidly in recent years, the logistics cost in the country remains very high, taking up 18 per cent in the GDP, compared to nine per cent in developed countries, Mr Song said.

Shanghai Commerce Commission director Gu Jiahe told the conference that his city aims to achieve a 10 per cent annual growth of 10 per cent in logistics but cuts costs 15 per cent.