Authorities in the Pearl River Delta province of Guangdong in southern China will continue to pour vast sums of money into waterways, highways and infrastructure this year, Xinhua reports.

The Communications Department of Guangdong said the province will invest CNY48.5 billion (US$6.24 billion), with CNY33 billion going to highway construction to build 600 kilometres of expressways, upgrade 500 kilometres of national and provincial highways, and pave 7,000 kilometres of rural roads this year.

Major highway development projects include the Guangzhou-Wuzhou Expressway and Shaoguan-Ganzhou Expressway that link Guangdong with the neighbouring Guangxi and Jiangxi provinces, the report said.

Last year, provincial authorities invested CNY46.2 billion in highway and waterway infrastructure construction and completed 200 kilometres of expressways, extending the length of expressways in Guangdong to 3,340 kilometres.