Anhui province is planning to build three highways in the next three years to help link the mainland's western regions with the east.
The cost of the project, part of China's 10th five-year plan, is estimated at 13.2 billion yuan (about HK$12.3 billion).
The chairman of H-share Anhui Expressway, Wang Shui, said the government had earmarked about 10 billion yuan a year to build highways between 2000 and 2005, so his company had ample opportunities to obtain management rights.
'We will target those projects which have an estimated return rate of 15 per cent,' he said.
The company, which is backed by the Anhui provincial government, already manages a number of highways in the province. It enjoys the advantage of being the preferred buyer of the rights.
The three highways to be built in the next three years are: a 220km highway linking Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu province, to Maanshan, Wuhu and Tongling in Anhui along the Yangtze River; a 120km highway connecting Bengbu and Nanjing; and a 100km highway from Fuyang to Bengbu.