BEIJING — Governments at all levels in China invested a total of 7.5 trillion yuan (about $1.2 trillion) in the transportation sector during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), driving related investment in fixed assets to exceed 16 trillion yuan, according to a report from the Ministry of Finance.

When delivering a work report on the allocation and use of government funds for transportation at an ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Dec 21, vice-minister of finance Yu Weiping said that during the five-year period, 5.69 trillion yuan, 1.16 trillion yuan, 0.39 trillion yuan and 0.23 trillion yuan were respectively directed to the highway, railway, civil aviation and water transport sectors.

Government investment in transportation also served to support poverty alleviation efforts, the coordinated development of regional transportation, and the fight against COVID-19, the report said.

It called for further efforts to improve the mechanism ensuring financial input in transportation, further optimize the composition of fiscal spending in the field of transportation, better leverage the guiding role of government investment, and improve the efficiency of government funds in the transportation sector.