BEIJING - The Chinese government plans to allocate 120 billion yuan (19.11 billion US dollars) to fund local transport infrastructure construction in 2013, the Ministry of Finance has announced.

According to the budget target set by the central government, the fund will be allocated from vehicle purchase tax incomes and mainly used to improve highway networks of trunk lines and rural roads.

Authorities have increased efforts to boost infrastructure investment over the past few months in a bid to bolster the slowing economy. They approved massive construction projects worth about a trillion yuan in the second half of last year.

External economic woes and domestic tightening to tame inflation have bit into the world's second-largest economy, which last year saw growth drop below 8 percent for the first time since 1999.