Delegates from the countries and regions along the New Eurasian Continental Bridge -- a land route which extends almost 11,000-km from the Chinese coast to Rotterdam in the west -- will meet at northwest China's Lanzhou city at the end of this month to discuss regional cooperation.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Wednesday announced in Beijing that the 2007 New Eurasian Continental Bridge Conference on Regional Economic Cooperation will be held from June 29 to July 4 in Lanzhou, provincial capital of Gansu.

Subinay Nandy, Country Director of UNDP, told a press conference that the UNDP has for years been trying to promote regional integration along the New Eurasian Continental Bridge.

He hopes the conference in Lanzhou will become a milestone in linking the countries more closely and strengthening cooperation in trade, investment and tourism.

Vice Mayor of Lanzhou Wang Bing said the Chinese cities along the New Eurasian Continental Bridge are spearheading economic growth in the region.

The conference -- jointly organized by the UNDP, China's Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Information Industry and Gansu provincial government -- aims to explore ways of expanding cooperation among countries and cities along the Bridge.

The Second UN Silk Road Mayor's Forum, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge Logistics Information Forum, the New Silk Road Entrepreneurs' Summit and the New Silk Road Cultural Week will be held at the same time.

The 10,870-km New Eurasian Continental Bridge, the cheapest and fastest Asia-Europe land rail route, starts from China's coastal city of Lianyungang, and goes westward to its terminal at the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to the west.

Statistics from the UNDP show that a little over 4,000 km of the Asia-Europe land route lies within China, extending across ten provincial areas including Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanxi, Anhui, Henan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang.

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2007)