The project, which will cost 735 million U.S. dollars, includes the building of a 87-kilometer-long expressway connecting Ankang city and Maoba town in Shaanxi Province.

It will also rehabilitate, expand and upgrade existing provincial, county and village roads.

Poor road conditions have hampered the social and economic development of the Ankang region, which is located in the southern mountainous part of the province.

Over the past 20 years, the WB has provided support to more than 65 transport projects in China.