China will try to alleviate the tension in railway transportation in southwest and northwest China, said Sun Yongfu, vice minister of Railways, at the Western Forum of China Sunday.

In the next five years, western areas of China will receive 40 percent of China's total railway investment and the total length of railway lines there will reach 18,000 kilometers, according to him.

China will build several new railway lines, including Beijing-Lanzhou, Xi'an-Nanjing and Lanzhou-Chongqing.

China will also cooperate with other countries to build lines linking the Asian-European continental railway.

Date:Monday, October 23, 2000
Peopledaily