China will pour more than 50 billion yuan (US$6.3 billion) into railway construction in southwestern Yunnan Province by 2010, according to a top railway official.

The massive investment will power several railway construction projects both inside the province and linking Yunnan to neighboring regions, said Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun.

Yunnan now has over 2,300 km of railways. As part of the country's drive to boost economic growth in western regions, the province is building and upgrading railways.

Construction has begun on sections of an ambitious 5,500-km Trans-Asia Railway, which will begin in the provincial capital Kunming and travel through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia before terminating in Singapore.

The Trans-Asia railway was initiated by former Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia in 1995 at an ASEAN summit and is expected to be completed in 2015.

"Yunnan is a gateway to south Asia and southeast Asia," said Liu.

With a population of 40 million, Yunnan neighbors Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2006)