A railway trunk line is expected to run alongside the Yangtze River in the next five years. The 2,024-kilometer line will cross the provinces of Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, and the municipalities of Chongqing and Shanghai, according to Wang Qingyun, vice director of the Primary Industries Department under the State Development Planning Commission.

It will greatly boost the economic growth of the Yangtze River Valley, China's most important economic region, promote the development of the western region and make resettlement at the Three Gorges go more smoothly, said Wang.

Four separate railway lines have been built along the Yangtze River over the past decade, and four more sections will continue to be built to eventually link them all up.

Based on experts' calculations, the new line will shorten the transportation distance between Shanghai and Wuhan, a traffic hub in central China, to 500 kilometers, enabling trains to cover the distance between Chongqing and Shanghai in only one day, a journey which takes seven days by ship.

Wang pointed out that although the Yangtze River is known as a "golden waterway" for its excellent transportation conditions, serious erosion of water and soil at its upper reaches and rampant flooding in 1998 have clogged many of its sections.

"What's more, only integrated development of railways, highways and navigation can effectively promote the economic growth of the Yangtze River Valley," said Wang.

Related statistics show that the gross national product (GNP) and grain output of the valley both share over 30 percent of the total of the country.

Economists here agree that the new railway line will speed up the transfer of capital and technology from China's coastal areas and other countries to the western region, as well as help develop the abundant natural resources there.