Therefore, China is building a ring road around the entire country

The huge road project is sometimes called the "Golden Border Coast Circle" in Chinese media, sometimes the "Golden Outer Ring Road". The investment is to be completed by 2030 and will be built along China's borders in the north, south and west and along the country's east coast.

The Ring Road will run through beautiful landscapes, rugged areas and sensitive ecosystems. It will draw close to territory where China has had border disputes with India and through the regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, where minorities feel harassed by the ruling Communist Party.

Three existing main routes are to be connected with new roads or roads that are being upgraded, according to the plan that became public this summer.

The G219 road runs from the Guangxi region and Yunnan province in China's southwest through Tibet and to northern Xinjiang.

The section is around a thousand miles and follows China's border with Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Russia.

Part of the new road runs through a mountain range between southern and northern Xinjiang in a 15-kilometer tunnel, which will open next year. The section is described by authorities as one of the most difficult sub-projects because a tunnel is drawn deep under a glacier.

G331 starts from northern Xinjiang and runs along China's border with Russia, Mongolia and North Korea. The distance is 920 miles.

The G228 runs along the country's coast in the east and is largely already open to traffic.

When the main routes are completed in four years, the ring road will be used for tourism, to develop deposits of various natural resources and to strengthen border security, according to China's Ministry of Transport.

The project is said to lead to economic revitalization in border areas, when previously relatively isolated places are connected to the large network of highways that already exist in the country.

This makes hundreds of viewpoints and historical monuments more easily accessible for tourists. At the same time, transportation to and from key agricultural settlements and mineral and energy deposits is being boosted, Li Meng, a deputy director at the ministry, said when the mega-project became public.

Over a hundred important border crossings and coastal ports are connected to the network.

But the giant ring road worries India. Some parts of the southern route pass close to places where India and China have had border disputes. The expansion makes it easier for China to transport soldiers and weapons to India's vicinity.

Chinese experts also do not deny the double benefit. What in peacetime is used by civilian vehicles can be converted in wartime to be used by military transport.