Government of Angola has cancelled a $695m road contract with a Chinese company on the grounds that the work was "no longer a priority".
The contract was cancelled by Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos by presidential decree on 3 October, after he had approved it on 5 September.
The company affected is China Tiesiju Civil Engineering (CTCE), which was undertaking the construction of access roads for the new Angola International Airport.
CTCE had been hired to extend and repairs the Via Expresso, the road that runs around Luanda.
The airport is being built in the city of Bom Jesus, about 30km from the southeast of Luanda; it is scheduled to open in 2017. The $6bn cost of the project is being met by Chinese loans, and most of the work is being carried out by Chinese companies – and Chinese workers.
The airport will have a capacity of 16 million passengers when finished, making it the second largest in Africa after Oliver Tambo Airport in Johannesburg.
Image: The Via Espresso crossed the Estrada de Catete on the southeastern edge of Luanda (Panoramio)
