HARBIN, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — The total length of the expressway network in China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang has exceeded 5,000 kilometers, according to the provincial department of transportation.
The milestone was passed with the completion of two expressway sections on Friday. Heilongjiang now has eight expressways extending beyond the province.
The completion of the two road sections also extended the province’s major transportation channels to the south, with the extension expected to boost economic exchanges between Heilongjiang and other northeastern provinces such as Jilin and Liaoning.
China’s operational expressway length totaled 177,000 kilometers by the end of 2022, and China remains the country with the greatest total expressway length in the world, the Ministry of Transport said last month.
China’s banking institution risks generally under control: central bank
BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) — Banking institutions in China have maintained sound operations with risks generally under control in the second quarter of this year, according to a central bank report released Friday.
The China Financial Stability Report 2023, compiled by the People’s Bank of China, cited results from a quarterly rating of 4,364 banking financial institutions in the country that assessed their stability and risks.
The rating found that 3,655 banks, whose assets accounted for 98.28 percent of the total assets of all the participating banks, were operating safely, said the report.
While risks did exist in some small and medium-sized financial institutions in rural areas, large banks earned good ratings, which helps ensure stability for the financial system, it said.
The central bank will continue to push forward the reform of small and medium-sized banks and resolve their risks, defuse risks for city commercial banks and rural credit cooperatives, and step up the reform and restructuring of rural banks, said the report.