Work to start on rail link with Iran

The Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region plans to start preliminary work on a railway linking China with Iran via Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan within five years.

The railway is expected to run from Xinjiang's Kashgar to Afghanistan's Herat, then go through Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and finally connect with the Iranian railway.

Conducting preliminary work on the railway has been listed in the draft of the region's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) that is likely to be passed by the regional people's congress on Saturday.