A total of 1.8 trillion yuan ($260 billion) is expected to be invested in road and rail transport infrastructure projects next year, Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng said at an annual working conference on Wednesday.

交通运输部部长李小鹏在周三的年度工作会议上表示，预计明年公路和铁路运输基础设施项目投资总额将达到1.8万亿元人民币(2600亿美元)。

The country has stepped up efforts to bolster areas of weakness in infrastructure construction, and has increased support for land use, sea use and environmental assessments, Li said.

李小鹏说:“国家加大了对基础设施建设薄弱地区的支持力度，加大了对土地利用、海洋利用和环境评估的投入力度。”

Much of the investment will go toward the building or renovation of 200,000 kilometers of roadways in rural regions, and efforts will be strengthened to ensure economically struggling villages are connected with other regions, he said.

李小鹏介绍，大部分投资将用于贫困地区20万公里公路的建设和改造，并将加强努力，确保深度贫困地区对外交通通道建设，争取与其他地区连接起来。

One of the ministry’s main targets for next year is to continue supporting the construction of roads in underdeveloped areas so as to ensure they have highway access by 2020, he said.

李小鹏说，交通运输部明年的主要目标之一是继续支持深度贫困地区的公路建设，确保2020年全部通行高速公路。

Official statistics showed 30.46 million rural residents still lived below the national poverty line as of the end of 2017.

官方统计数据显示，截至2017年底，全国仍有3046万农村人口生活在贫困线以下。

So far this year, 88.3 billion yuan has been invested in building rural roads to help alleviate poverty, with the amount invested up 14.6 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.

今年以来，我国贫困地区交通运输建设投资883亿元，同比增长14.6%。