Prijedor, Bosnia, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking ceremony for the Banja Luka Prijedor highway project, undertaken by China's Shandong High-speed Group International Cooperation Company, was held in Prijedor, the second largest city of the Bosnian Serb Republic, on Thursday.

Prime Minister Of republik Srpska Vishkovic, Chinese Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina Ji Ping and other officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony.

Vishkovic said in his speech that the Pappu highway is a very important project in the Republika Srpska, which will effectively improve the transportation environment in the republika Srpska, enhance the efficiency of transportation and create new development opportunities for the local area.

According to Ji Ping, the Bapu Highway is the largest investment project by A Chinese company in Bosnia and Herzegovina so far, and the first land transport infrastructure project invested by a Chinese company in a franchised way in Europe. The commencement of this project means that the economic cooperation between China and Poland has reached a new level. It is believed that Chinese enterprises will contribute to local infrastructure construction and economic development with their rich business experience and professional construction techniques and build a stronger bond of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

The 40 km Pappu highway starts from Banja Luka, capital of Republika Srpska, and ends in Prijedor. The total investment is 300 million euros and the construction period is 3 years.