The Tibetan section of the power-supply project of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway began Monday, as part of a railway project on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in west China.

The railway project, which was halted for various reasons in the 1970s, was resumed in 2001 and is scheduled to be completed by 2007. The railway project costs a total of 36 billion yuan (about US$4.34 billion).

In 2003, 5.6 billion yuan (about US$675 million) is expected to be spent in building the railway and 194 kilometers of rails are to be laid, 83 kilometers more than the length of last year.

A number of technical difficulties have to be resolved in building the power-supply project in Tibet, according to the Tibet Power Construction Corporation.

The Qinghai section of the power-supply project was completed last year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2003)