Transport vehicles of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan will be allowed to passed through the territories of the other three, beginning May 15 this year.  

The four nations signed an agreement on transit transportation in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, on Tuesday.

The agreement agrees on permits for transit shipping vehicles, unifying vehicle standards, taxation on transit transport and time for operation of transit transportation.

The four countries agreed that Pakistan would be responsible for printing the permits for transit transport vehicles and the other three countries would provide stamps of the permits to Pakistan.

Each of the four countries will get 200 permits for this year before April 30, according to the agreement.

The four sides also agreed that the size of transport vehicle will not be longer than 20 meters, no more than 2.55 meters wide and no more than four meters high, with a dead weight of no more than 38 tons. Special permits will be issued for transporting huge items that can not be disassembled.

Transit vehicles will be exempted from fees for passing through the territory of other countries, and fees for road maintenance. Other fees, such as those charged for passing bridges and tunnels, will be charged according to the practice of each of the four countries.

Li Yanwu, an official with the highway management department of the Chinese Ministry of Communication, said China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan were neighbors and it had been a common pursuit of the four countries to seek regional development through cooperation.

Communication and transportation play a very important role in seeking development through cooperation, Li noted.

The four countries first reached an agreement on transit transportation in 1995.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2004)