URUMQI, Feb. 15(Xinhuanet)-- The westernmost Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China has by far the total length of 86,000 kilometers highways, according to the regional communications department.

Figures from the department show that investment in highway construction increased rapidly in recent years, from three billionyuan(360 million US dollars) in 2001 to 12.1 billion yuan(1.46 billion dollars) in 2004.

Xinjiang built 544 kilometers of highways to link local counties and 6,500 kilometers of highways in rural areas last year.

A local communications official said that a highway network covering the whole region is taking shape.

Xinjiang boasts a land space of 1.66 million sq km, or one-sixth of China's total.