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Construction of the Pan-Asia Railway is expected to start in southwest China's Yunnan Province next year, it was announced at the 2nd China-ASEAN Business Council Meeting, which ended Tuesday in Kunming, capital of Yunnan.
The Ministry of Railways and the Yunnan provincial government have submitted a proposal on construction of a section of the railway in Yunnan to the State Development Planning Commission.
Construction of the 212-km section, connecting Yuxi and Mengzi,will require an estimated investment of 6.2 billion yuan (746 million US dollars).
The Pan-Asia Railway runs from Singapore to Kunming City in southwest China, through Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam,with a total length of 5,600 kilometers.
The railway section will not only expand the network of Yunnan northward, but also facilitate political and economic cooperation between China and southeast Asian countries, said Che Zhimin, director of the provincial economic research center.
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has promised to build and upgrade railways linking Kunming with Hekou, which borders Vietnam, paving the way for the operation of the Pan-Asia Railway.
(People's Daily December 19, 2002)
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