Beijing, Oct 15 (IANS): China's top economic planner on Thursday announced that it has approved the construction of six infrastructure projects, with an estimated investment of 68 billion yuan (about $10 billion).

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) approved plans to build highways in the provinces of Gansu, Hebei and Jiangxi, construct two highway bridges across the Yangtze river and dredge part of the Grand Canal between Beijing and Hangzhou city, Xinhua news agency reported.

The most expensive of the projects would be a 244-km expressway in Gansu province, expected to require 37 billion yuan in investment.

Earlier this week, the NDRC said it had approved construction of four new railways stretching 2,000 km in total, with total investment of 253 billion yuan.

With its economy slowing, China has underscored spending on infrastructure as a major tool to shore up growth.

The country's fixed-asset investment increased 10.9 percent year on year in the first eight months, while investment in infrastructure jumped 18.4 percent, official data showed.