China announced on December 26 that the renovation of a 396-kilometer-long railway section has been completed. The Ministry of Railways decided to widen the rail route between Baoji city in the northwest Shaanxi Province and the capital of Chengdu in southwest Sichuan Province so as to turn it into one with multiple tracks.

According to sources from a press conference held in the city of Guangyuan today, the renovation of the rail line, a major state rail project, is aimed at easing traffic and creating conditions for paving a continental route that connects Russia, China, Myanmar and Viet Nam.

The upgrading of the line is an extraordinary feat as it spans rigid, steep mountains, deep valleys and turbulent rivers with swift rapids in western China.

The project is expected to increase the annual rail cargo transportation capacity from 11.58 million tons in the past to some 50 million tons a year.