BEIJING: Construction is set to begin next month on a monumental railway linking Hotan in Xinjiang with Lhasa in Tibet – one of China’s most ambitious infrastructure projects to date.
The 1,980km (1,230 miles) line has been dubbed one of the “projects of the century” for the extreme engineering challenges it presents and the massive investment required. Traversing mountain ranges, glaciers, and permafrost zones at altitudes averaging above 4,500 metres (14,764 feet), it will connect the two autonomous regions in northwestern and southwestern China.
In this explainer, the Post examines why the railway matters for Beijing and its anticipated costs and benefits.
How much is the project expected to cost?
The state-owned Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company, established in August with a capital of 95 billion yuan, will build and operate the line.
Total investment could reach 400 billion yuan (US$56.2 billion) – or about 200 million yuan (US$28.1 million) per kilometre – according to analysts at Citic Securities.
That would make it one of China’s most expensive rail projects ever, surpassing the estimated 320 billion yuan cost of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, which is still under construction.
Why does the project matter to Beijing?
The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway holds strategic value for Beijing beyond commercial considerations such as passenger and freight revenue.
As a pillar of China’s western development strategy, the project aims to accelerate economic integration and narrow the long-standing disparities between coastal and western regions.
Infrastructure is crucial for Xinjiang and Tibet – two of China’s fastest-growing regions, each achieving over 6 per cent economic growth in 2024. The two have continued to grow despite national fixed asset investment slowing in recent months.
Xinjiang – a vast, resource-rich area still under Western sanctions over alleged human rights violations – relies heavily on its coal sector, which is expected to maintain robust growth, according to a report by Citic Securities.
The new line is urgently needed, as annual coal exports have nearly reached the region’s total railway capacity of 96 million tonnes, the report’s authors said.
For Tibet, historically one of the nation’s least connected regions, the railway will improve access to the national economy and strengthen connections to South Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative’s trade corridors.
Finally, the route has clear national security implications. Sections will run near the China-India Line of Actual Control – the de facto border between the two countries – granting the project defensive value in a frontier region with far less infrastructure than many other parts of the country.
What are the immediate economic benefits?
Construction is expected to provide a significant boost to local economies through job creation. The vast majority of the budget - about 93 per cent, according to Citic Securities – will be allocated to static investments, including 240 billion yuan slated for civil engineering and 44 billion yuan for equipment.
This is expected to stimulate regional manufacturing and logistics. For instance, the project is expected to drive demand for about 40 million tonnes of cement, heavily supporting local suppliers, according to Citic Securities analysts.
What other railways connect Tibet?
The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway is one of four planned lines connecting Tibet to the rest of China, alongside services linking the autonomous region to Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which entered service in 2006, connected Tibet to China’s national rail network for the first time, while parts of the Sichuan-Tibet and Yunnan-Tibet railways are already open, with other sections still under construction. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
