Chinese President Hu Jintao attended a launching
ceremony of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the first ever
rail link to the "roof of the world".
The grand ceremony was held on July 1, in Golmud, a start-off point
of the landmark railway in northwest China's Qinghai Province, to
mark the railway's opening to traffic.
Hu, who also General Secretary of Chinese Communist Party (CPC)
Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission,
delivered a keynote speech at the gala held at the Golmud Railway
Station, which was decorated with blossoming flowers and fluttering
colorful flags.
Hu said that the opening to traffic of the Qinghai-Tibet railway
is another magnificent accomplishment we have achieved in our socialist
modernization drive. Construction of the Qinghai- Tibet railroad is
a long-cherished dream of generations of the Chinese people.
The President then cut the ribbon for the launching of the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway. After his speech, a train carrying officials and model workers
on the project set out from Golmud for Lhasa where it was due to arrive
on Saturday night. Another train set out from Lhasa.
"The project is not only a magnificent feat in China's history
of railway construction, but also a great miracle of the world's railroad
history," according to the president.
President Hu required railway authorities to do a good job in management
and use of the Qinghai-Tibet railroad and to establish awareness of
the principles of putting the people first and of safe development.
According to Hu, launching of the Qinghai-Tibet railway will provide
a historic opportunity for the economic and social development in
Qinghai Province and Tibet Autonomous Region.
The two should take the wonderful opportunity to carry out the conception
of scientific development, design industrial distribution in a scientific
way, optimize the distribution of resources and push forward the economic
restructuring, so as to speed up the formation of economic patterns
with regional advantages and ethnic characteristics.
Vice Premier Zeng Peiyuan presided over the launching ceremony,
which was also attended by Party chiefs of Tibet and Qinghai, as well
as 2,600 people from various circles, including exemplary workers
who have made special contributions to the railway construction.
Zhou Yongkong, State Councilor, cut the ribbon at another ceremony
held at the Railway Station of Lhasa, and saw off the inland-bound
train.
Liu Zhijun, Minister of Railway, said at the Golmud ceremony that
the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway was a strategic decision
made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and
the State Council, and it is an unprecedented difficult job in human's
history.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway is 1,956 kilometers long, with 960 km
of the track located 4,000 meters above the sea level and the highest
point at 5,072 meters.
The railway stretches from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province,
to Lhasa. The section of 814 km from Xining to Golmud began operation
in 1984 and the Golmud-Lhasa section started construction on June
29, 2001.
The railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railroad
and also the first railway connecting the Tibet Autonomous Region
with the rest of China.
The railway is projected to help double tourism revenues by 2010
and reduce transport costs for goods by 75 percent in Tibet, officials
said.
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