View of Beijing-Urumqi Expressway Photo: Xinhua News Agency

A number of major infrastructure projects have been completed and opened for business across China ahead of July 1, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

The Wutong Daquan-Mulei section, the so-called "last link" of the Beijing-Urumqi Expressway, was opened to traffic on Wednesday, marking the full operation of the world's longest cross-desert expressway, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The expressway is the seventh national expressway originating from the capital city of Beijing, with a total length of more than 2,800 kilometers. It passes through six provinces and municipalities including North China's Hebei and Shanxi provinces and Northwest China's Gansu Province.

The full connection of the expressway will cut the trip between Beijing and Urumqi, the regional capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, by more than 1,300 kilometers.

It is the second expressway to link the autonomous region to other parts of the country, after an expressway connecting the port cities of Khorgas and Lianyungang, in East China's Jiangsu Province. It offers another transportation option for the northwest locality.

A number of other major infrastructure projects were either completed or opened in late June for the national celebration of the CPC's centenary in China, a country known around the world for its first-rate roads, bridges, tunnels, railways and ports.

On Wednesday, construction workers announced the completion of the 17.6-kilometer Xiuling Tunnel, a milestone project of the Dali-Ruili railway (a major section of the China-Myanmar Railway) in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. It takes trains only eight minutes to pass through - but it took up to 10,000 workers and 14 years to build.

On June 25, the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region started operation, running China's most advanced Fuxing bullet trains to better connect Tibet to other provinces and regions.

In the energy sector, engineers Monday officially started operations for the first group of the super 1-million-kilowatt generating units at Southwest China's Baihetan Hydropower Station, which has the world's largest installed capacity in a single generating unit.

The operation of the Beijing-Urumqi Expressway is of great significance to further improve the national main road network and alleviate congestion on the Beijing-Tibet Expressway. The road will also help boost the exploration of regional mineral resources and tourism.

Global Times