China invested 488.9 billion yuan ($72.7 billion) in transportation infrastructure projects in the first quarter, up 4.8 percent from last year, the Ministry of Transport said on Sunday.

Ministry spokesman Wu Chungeng said at a news conference that China's transportation investment remained stable in the first quarter of the year as a result of continued government efforts to improve infrastructure.

More than 101.2 billion yuan was pumped into railway projects in the January-April period, and 15.5 billion yuan into the civil aviation sector, increasing investment by 10 percent and 10.7 percent year-on-year respectively, according to the ministry.

Investment in expressways, which totaled 191.5 billion yuan, grew 12.6 percent year-on-year. The construction of waterways saw nearly 11.3 billion yuan in investment, up 9.3 percent.

Wu noted that the first quarter also witnessed an optimized transportation structure, with a growing number of rail and air passengers and an increasing railway and waterway freight volume.

The number of railway trips reached some 850 million, surging 9 percent from last year, while trips via air topped 160 million during the period, up 9.8 percent year-on-year. However, there were about 3.4 billion trips by road, a 5 percent decrease from last year.

"Convenient, efficient and comfortable transportation, such as high-speed rail and air travel have been on the rise, while the number of traditional road trips is declining," Wu said.

Moreover, the logistics network and its infrastructure improved in the first quarter, with railway freight volume and water transportation seeing 3 percent and 5.9 percent gains year-on-year respectively.

China will expand infrastructure investment this year, including 800 billion yuan in railway construction and 1.8 trillion yuan in road construction and waterway projects, as well as another 85 billion yuan in airport projects, according to the ministry.

Specifically, 200,000 kilometers of roads in rural areas will be built, while new rail lines of some 6,800 kilometers will be added, up 45 percent from last year.