File photo shows workers go about their work at a construction site in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, March 6, 2017. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese firm Beijing Urban Construction Group has started construction of a 70 million U.S. dollars asphalt road project in southern Ethiopia, an Ethiopian official said on Monday.

In a press statement, Samson Wondimu, communication director of the Ethiopian Roads Authority said the asphalt road project located in Ethiopia's Southern regional state is 73 km long, with the project cost to be fully covered by the Ethiopian government.

Wondimu said the project is expected to be completed in four years and connect the agriculturally fertile areas of southern Ethiopia to the country's heartland.

He also said the area is home to several tourist attractions, and the road is expected to boost foreign tourist flows to Ethiopia.

Beijing Urban Construction Group is already constructing several other road projects in Ethiopia including a 69 km asphalt road project in northern Ethiopia.

Chinese companies, as pioneers in Ethiopia's road infrastructure development sector, have so far realized remarkable road projects ranging from the 85 km Addis Ababa-Adama toll expressway to the 223 km Dire Dawa-Dewele asphalt concrete road project connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djiboutian ports.