Beijing, Sep 11 (IANS): China's economic regulator has approved the construction of three new railroads in the central and southwestern regions for 142.77 billion yuan (around $22 billion).

A new high-speed railway will link cities in Henan and Hubei provinces and Chongqing municipality, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two other tracks will be traditional rail and will help improve transportation in Yunnan, a southwest border area, according to approval letters released on Friday by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Investment into Zhengzhou-Wanzhou high-speed railroad totalled 118 billion yuan, the biggest among the new projects.

With a designed speed of 350 km, the 818-km-long railway is expected to carry 60 million passengers per year.

Local governments and China Railway Corporation will put forth a majority of the investment while the rest will be provided by commercial and policy banks, the NDRC said.

The construction of the three railroads is expected to be completed in the next four to six years.