Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Monday expressed delight over the opening of a China-built landmark highway in Algeria, and vowed to maintain high-quality cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the North African country. 

Built by China's CITIC Construction, the ambitious East-West highway has a total length of 1,216 kilometers, and it opened to traffic on Saturday. It is the highest-level road project built under the most complex geological conditions since the founding of Algeria, said Wang during a regular press conference. 

"In particular, the 84-km eastern bid section is prone to geological disasters and faced enormous construction difficulties. It was described by many as 'a nightmare for geological engineers,'" said Wang, noting that the Chinese company closely worked with the Algerian side over the project, providing Chinese solutions to the technical difficulties and with high quality work turning a half-finished road into a road to prosperity

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony for the final segment of the highway, which was held in El Tarf, Algerian Prime Minister Aymen Benabderrahmane hailed the highway's importance for facilitating people's travel and for promoting economic exchanges between Algeria and Tunisia, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

While building the project, the Chinese companies also trained nearly 10,000 local construction workers. The project has benefited close to 40 million residents and received wide appreciation in Algeria. The project has become a fine example of China-Algeria and China-Africa BRI cooperation, said Wang. 

"China stands ready to work with Algeria and the rest of the world to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and boost world economic recovery and sustainable development," he noted.

Global Times