China will pour more than 50 billion yuan (US$6.3 billion) into railway construction in southwestern Yunnan Province by 2010, according to a top railway official.

 

The massive investment will power several railway construction projects both inside the province and linking Yunnan to neighboring regions, said Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun.

 

Yunnan now has over 2,300 kilometers of railways. As part of the country's drive to boost economic growth in western regions, the province is building and upgrading railways.

 

China has mapped out three lines in the province that are part of an ambitious 5,500-km Trans-Asia Railway, which will begin in the provincial capital Kunming and travel through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia before terminating in Singapore.

 

Construction of a 142-km Yuxi-Mengzi section on the eastern line from Yunnan to Vietnam has begun. Preparatory work has also started on a 146-km section from Yunnan to Hanoi, capital of Vietnam.

 

"The Chinese section of the railway link to Vietnam will be fully completed in 2010," said Wang Minzheng, deputy director of the Yunnan Development and Reform Commission.

 

Preparatory work is also under way on the 599-km Yuxi-Mohan section of the line to Laos, and the 366-km Dali-Ruili western section from Yunnan to Myanmar.

 

The Dali-Ruili railway is expected to cost 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion), according to Wang, adding that the upgrade of the Kunming-Dali railway will be completed by 2010.

 

The railway construction will link China more closely with the Association of the South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

 

The trade volume between China and ASEAN member countries reached 130 billion U.S dollars in 2005, 16 times that of 1991 when it was less than eight billion U.S. dollars.

 

However, railway transport can only meet 30 percent of the transportation demand which has arisen from the booming trade between China and ASEAN nations.

 

Railway construction is a concrete step towards creating a China-ASEAN free trade zone, which will be set up in 2010, according to experts.

 

The Trans-Asia railway was initiated by former Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia in 1995 at an ASEAN summit and is expected to be completed in 2015.

 

With a population of 40 million, Yunnan, which neighbors Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, is a gateway of China to south Asia and southeast Asia.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)