A total of 887.3 billion yuan (137.4 billion U.S. dollars) has been spent on improving transport infrastructure in Guizhou Province, on the frontlines of China's anti-poverty war, between 2016 and 2020. The figure was 1.4 times the province's 619.5-billion-yuan investment between 2011 and 2015, according to the provincial department of transportation. From 2016 to 2020, the southwestern province with rugged terrain, including steep karst peaks and deep gorges, added 2,486 km of expressway, 826 km of high-speed railway and 21,000 km of highway, according to the department. The total expressway length across 66 counties once trapped in poverty increased from 3,797 km to 5,640 km during the period, up 48 percent year on year. A total of 12 million rural residents, including 1.83 million registered impoverished residents, benefited from the transport infrastructure upgrade from 2016 to 2020, said Shao Xun, head of the department. By 2020, Guizhou had 7,600 km of expressway, which has dramatically changed living conditions and the development of rural areas in the province, Shao added.
