China is set to launch a major rural road upgrade initiative this year as part of efforts to accelerate the development of a modern rural transport network, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The country is continuing its efforts to align rural and urban planning at the county level, with plans to build or upgrade 100,000 kilometers of rural roads in 2025.

The initiative also aims to connect an additional 250 townships with Class-3 or higher-grade highways and pave concrete roads to reach a total of 12,000 natural villages with relatively large populations.

Efforts will also include renovation projects for 3,000 aging or hazardous bridges on rural roads and the implementation of maintenance projects across an additional 100,000 kilometers of rural roads.

In addition, the ministry will step up the digital transformation of rural road management. This includes establishing a digital archive for each road, known as the "one road, one file" system, and promoting automated monitoring of road conditions.

To support employment, the ministry will expand its work-relief program in transport infrastructure construction and maintenance, with the goal of stabilizing the number of jobs in rural road management and maintenance at 850,000.

"We will take a targeted approach to rural road construction and upgrades this year. Our focus will be on opening fast-access routes to key economic nodes, such as townships, renovating outdated roads, and widening rural roads that are too narrow in line with local conditions. At the same time, we're promoting the 'rural roads plus' model -- accelerating the construction of roads that support local business development, tourism, and resource transport -- to further promote the integrated development between transportation and the tourism and energy sectors," said Chen Wenliang, deputy director of the rural road department at the Ministry of Transport's highway bureau.