BEIJING, Aug 21 (Reuters) - China's state planner said onWednesday that it has approved eight urban railway projectsworth a total of 131.83 billion yuan ($18.67 billion) in thesouthwestern city of Chengdu.

The projects are expected to span 176.65 kilometres whencompleted by 2024, the National Development and Reform Committeesaid in a statement on its website.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu and Beijing Newsroom; Editing byRichard Borsuk) ((yawen.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 5669 2126; Follow me onTwitter https://twitter.com/ywchen1; ))