The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved loans totaling
US$500 million for China to build a 377-kilometer east-west trunk
railway, the largest loan the ADB has ever offered China.
The ADB-funded railway runs from Yichang, Hubei
Province, central China, to Wanzhou, Chongqing
Municipality, in southwest China, running through eight
mountainous counties, five of which are economically
under-developed.
Some of the loans will be used to build auxiliary facilities for
power transmission, cargo storage, and telecommunications, loading
equipment and train control systems along the route.
The Yichang-Wanzhou railway will shorten the length of several
north-south and east-west routes in China, and is expected to playa
key role in promoting economic development in western China and
areas along the route, sources with the Ministry of Railways
said.
The ADB also granted US$150,000 for wild animal protection in
areas the railway traverses.
Costing US$2.36 billion, the railway is expected to be completed
by the end of 2009.
The Ministry of Railways and the State Development Bank will
fund the remainder of the required investment.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2004)