The Chinese Government has approved the construction of the first railway linking the Tibet Autonomous Region with the rest of China.

The 1,118-kilometre railway will extend from Lhasa in Tibet to Golmud in Qinghai Province. It will be the longest and highest railway in the world.

Feasibility studies and planning of the construction of the railway are now under way. The construction of the railway will start as soon as possible.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin said that the construction of the railway is highly necessary.

Premier Zhu Rongji said that the time was ripe for building the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. He said that the railway has great significance for the acceleration of economic and social development in Tibet, for the increase of economic and cultural exchanges.

More than 960 kilometres, or over four-fifths of the railway, will be built at an altitude of more than 4,000 metres. And more than half of it will be laid on earth that has been frozen for a long time.

Date: 02/09/2001

China Daily