Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, will start building a subway in 2010, an official said Friday.

The construction of Line 1 will cost 6 billion yuan (792 million U.S. dollars), said Zhong Zhenming, head of Changchun Urban and Rural Construction Committee.

The north-south Line 1 will extend 12 kilometers from the railway station to Weixing Square, the axis of Changchun, with each kilometer costing about 500 million yuan, according to Zhong.

Changchun is working on plans for a Line 2 subway and a Line 3 light rail. Its long-term rail development plan is based on three subways and two light rails.

Line 1 and Line 2 will go into operation before 2020.

Zhong said the Line 1 subway will ease traffic congestion.

Changchun is an industrial city with a population of 7.4 million. It is estimated that there will be 1 million vehicles in the city by 2015.

Many cities in China suffer from huge traffic congestion because of the rapidly increasing number of vehicles, an inadequate road network and especially a failure to invest in modern public transport systems.

With Shanghai leading the way, some of China's major cities such as Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong have upped investment in public transport subway systems, while other cities like Wuhan, Dalian and Hangzhou are planning to have their own subways.

The first subway in China appeared in Beijing in 1969.