The Minister of Communications Zhang Chunxian revealed Thursday that China was planning to build an expressway between Beijing and Taipei, the capital of Taiwan Province.

"This has been included in a new expressway network plan mapped out by China," he told an Information Office of the State Council press conference.

Between now and 2030 China will complete work on 85,000 kilometers of expressways, connecting cities with a population of over 200,000, at an estimated cost of 2 trillion yuan (US$242.1 billion), including one from Beijing to Taipei, Zhang said.

When the exchanges of mail service, trade and air and shipping services across the Taiwan Straits, or the so-called three direct links, are in place, China's mainland and Taiwan will be connected by expressway networks, he said.

The three direct links were a prerequisite for tunnels or other projects that could be built to link the expressways of the two places, the official said.

"The significance of the expressway to Taipei lies in logistics," Zhang said. "Sound logistics are of great realistic importance in helping Taiwan, Hong Kong and China's mainland lower costs and sharpen competitive edges and upgrade the living conditions for every resident (in the places)."

China's planned national expressway network will also stretch to Hong Kong and Macao, including the Hongkong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge that the two special administrative regions (SARs) have shown great interest in.

The move will benefit prosperity and stability in Hong Kong, help Hong Kong reduce logistics costs more and promote the integration of the economies of Hong Kong, Macao, the Pearl River Delta and the inland economy, the minister said.

The world's longest bridge is the Second Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it is 38.4 km long and was completed in 1969.

Japan has the world's longest undersea tunnel. The 54-km Seikan tunnel links the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido and started operating in 1988 after more than two decades of construction.

Editor: Catherine