Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region plans to launch construction of the second desert highway running through the Taklimakan Desert in May this year.

The highway will extend from the southern part of Xinjiang to Hotan with a length of 425 kilometers.

The project, with total cost estimated at 834 million yuan (US$100 million), will be launched in May and be completed by 2007.

Xinjiang's first desert highway, 522 kilometers long, was opened to traffic in 1995. It is the world's longest desert highway.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2005)