Anhui province in eastern China plans to spend up to Rmb45bn on transportation infrastructure this year, local authorities announced.

Some of the funds will be spent on two new bridges that will span the Yangtze River, one in Wuhu and the other in Chizhou. Construction is expected to start later this year. Six projects, including the Maanshan Yangtze River Bridge and the Xuancheng-Liqiao expressway, are set to be opened to traffic before 2014.

The province will also speed up the improvement of a canal running from Wuhu to Shanghai and the construction of the first phase of the Zhengpu port project. The port is located in He county, about 45km from Wuhu and 54km from Nanjing.

This year is also set to see the opening of an airport in Chizhou, a beautiful Yangtze port city and home to Jiuhua Mountain, one of the four sacred mountains of Chinese Buddhism.