The transport ministry is considering a plan to spend 5 trillion yuan ($730 billion) on road and port infrastructure projects over the next three to five years, in a bid to stimulate domestic demand, the Shanghai-based China Business News reported yesterday.

An anonymous source with the ministry was quoted as saying that the massive spending was being considered as "such investment can produce an immediate effect (on domestic demand)".

The 5 trillion yuan figure includes funds the government had already earmarked for highway construction projects, the report said.