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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| China wants to extend Qinghai-Tibet railway line to India |
| 2006-04-10 |
| AS part of a strategy to boost its connection with the outside world, China's railways will seek to extend the newly built Qinghai-Tibet rail link to India, a State Council official has said. China plans to build four international railways in the southwest, south, northeast and northwest of the country during the 11th Five-Year Plan period. In the southwest, China will extend the 1,956-kilometer Qinghai-Tibet line to Shigatse and will then stretch it into the South Asian subcontinent to connect with India's railway network. The Qinghai-Tibet rail link, the first railway on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau - known as the "roof of the world" - will launch its test run on July 1. The Tibet Autonomous Region boasts a border line of more than 4,000 km, neighboring many countries such as India, Bhutan and Nepal. Prior to the completion of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, many countries had guessed that Lhasa would not be the terminal station for the new railway, hoping that the line would be extended to benefit neighboring countries. King Gyanendra of Nepal has expressed hopes that the Qinghai-Tibet railway will stretch into Nepal and eventually link to India's rail network, making Nepal a transfer hub for its two giant neighbors. "Considering the stable relations between Tibet and neighboring countries as well as their economic development, it is very necessary to pave tracks into South Asian countries," State Council official Hu Changshun was quoted as saying by the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper yesterday. With the increasingly close economic relations between China and the world, the building of international rail links is expected to bolster China's opening-up policy, solving transport problems that curb cooperation with neighboring countries over energy and mineral resources, Hu added. Besides connecting to southern Asia, China is also considering construction of international railway links from Yunnan Province to Southeast Asia; northeastern China to Russia's railway network; and northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region with Russia as part of the 11th Five-Year Plan and in the future. |
| Posted by:john |
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| Posted by: lotp 2006-04-10 20:09 |
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| Posted by: Zenster 2006-04-10 19:46 |
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| Posted by: Fordesque 2006-04-10 15:41 |