BEIJING, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- China will begin construction this year on a $747 million project to expand its rail network in Central Asia, according to state-run media on Wednesday.
A feasibility study involving the State Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Railways and authorities from the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous government was completed at the end of July for the 295-kilometer (183-mile) Jinghe-Ili-Horgos rail line.
The project, running through Kazakh and Mongolian ethnic minority prefectures in northwestern Xinjiang near the border with Kazakhstan, is scheduled for completion in 2008.
The new railway will, in part, facilitate better transportation between China and Central Asian countries.
The government-controlled Xinhua news agency says the rail line will tighten economic ties between Xinjiang and the country's other inland provinces and regions, and be part of the trans-continental railway network linking China's coastal regions with European countries.
