Southwest China province to extend railway 3,300 km by 2015

Southwest China' s Guizhou Province will extend railway lines by an additional 3,300 kilometers by 2015 as part of China's 12th Five-Year Plan to balance regional development between the east and west.

"By the end of this year, Guizhou Province will have a total of 2,050 km of railway lines, and we plan to add 3,300 km more rail lines by 2015," said Governor Zhao Kezhi at a provincial railway network construction conference held Tuesday.

"The investment for railway construction in Guizhou in the forthcoming ten years will top 400 billion yuan (about 69.7 billion U.S. dollars), of which some 300 billion yuan will be invested to build the railway lines in the 12th Five-Year-Plan Period (2011-2015)," said Governor Zhao.

China is speeding up construction of its railway network in the west to keep up with railway development in the east and central regions, said Liu Zhijun, Minister of China's Ministry of Railways.

With a population of 40 million, Guizhou looks set to become the transport hub of west China due to its geographical position.

Guizhou adjoins Hunan Province to the east, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to the south, Yunnan Province to the west, and Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality to the north. Enditem

Source: Xinhua