China opens road tunnel under Yangtze River

The 1.7-billion yuan (250 million dollar) project began in November 2004 as part of efforts to relieve traffic congestion in the central city of Wuhan, which has a population of eight million people, the report said.

Wuhan is known as the gateway to China's hinterlands and the tunnel links the city's university and government office area with the business centre, it said.

The tunnel cuts travel time between the two areas from a half-hour to seven minutes, Xinhua said.