China will try to alleviate the tension in railway transportation in southwest and northwest part of the country, said Sun Yongfu, vice-minister of railways, at the Western Forum of China Sunday.

In the next five years, western areas of China will receive 40 percent of China’s total railway investment and the total length of railway lines there will reach 18,000 km, according to the vice-minister.

China will build several new railway lines, including Beijing-Lanzhou, Xi’an-Nanjing and Lanzhou-Chongqing lines.

China will also cooperate with other countries to build lines linking the Asian-European continental railway.

(People’s Daily 10/23/2000)