(CFP)

A military jet takes off from a highway in central China's Henan Province on May 25.

The takeoff took place as China's air force held the first ever tests of a specially designed highway that intentionally doubles up as a runway for aircraft. The strip is one of the best road runways in the country, according to Liu Shenyang, deputy chief of the Jinan Military Area Command.

The highway can serve as an alternative airport for civilian airplanes and allows takeoffs and landings of cargo planes. It can also be used in exercises and training for military airplanes as well as for emergency landings during wartime, he added.