China's Sichuan province will invest a total of 11.7 billion yuan ($1.41 billion) in highway construction by the end of this year.

Local sources said during the country's 9th Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000), the province invested 51 billion yuan in the sector and built 12 major expressways totalling 1,000 km in length. By the end of last year, the province's highway length had reached 90,000 km.

In a move that represents the complete opening of its road construction to overseas investment, Sichuan recently invited public bidding from domestic and foreign businesses for the province's l0 expressway construction projects with a total length of over l,000 km.

The two most important expressways, linking Chengdu with Chongqing and Mianyang respectively, both have foreign funding.

The Chengdu-Chongqing Expressway Co Ltd raised $l73 million after it was listed on the Hong Kong stock market. The Chengdu-Mianyang Expressway was financed by Sichuan and Hong Kong capital.

According to statistics, Sichuan absorbed $l.02 billion in overseas contractual funding over the past five years.