BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's transport sector saw rising investment and shrinking costs in the first half, a government ministry spokesman said Tuesday.
A total of 1.37 trillion yuan (about 199.68 billion U.S. dollars) was invested in railways, highways, shipping and civil aviation in the first six months of the year, up 4.8 percent from the same period last year, said Sun Wenjian, the spokesman for the the Ministry of Transport, at a press conference.
Logistics costs and other related expenses, however, shrank by about 63.37 billion yuan in the Jan.-June period.
In terms of passenger transport, 8.75 billion passenger trips were completed, down 1.8 percent over the same period last year.
In terms of freight transportation, 24.58 billion tonnes of commercial freight were handled, up 5.9 percent. Included were 27.8 billion pieces of parcels delivered by express delivery, up 26 percent. Railway freight volume, for instance, rose 100 million tonnes year on year.
China rebuilt and renovated 135,000 kilometers of rural roads in H1, equivalent to 67.7 percent of its annual target, according to the spokesman.
