A new Silk Road connecting China's hinterland with the industrial centres of western Europe is expected to be completed within 10 years, officials involved in the project were cited as saying Wednesday.
The road will extend westward from eastern China through central Asian and European countries to the Atlantic Ocean.
"Ten years is a reasonable goal," Antony Pearce, acting director-general of the International Road Federation (IRF), was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency. "If you look at what China has achieved in the last five years, it is an achievable goal."
The IRF advocated rehabilitating the ancient Silk Road seven years ago to meet the increasing demand for businesses among countries along the route.
China completed its section stretching 4,395 kilometres (2,724 miles) from Lianyungang in east Jiangsu province to Helgus in northwest Xinjiang region this month, cutting a two-week journey to 50 hours.
Chaos caused by war in some regions along the road has temporarily delayed progress over the past five years, but officials remain confident of its completion within their expected timeframe.
At present, transportation capacity of the section from Turkey to China, crossing Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, cannot meet the demand.
Pearce said the job at hand was to "connect the missing link."
"The important thing is that this road crosses many countries, what we need to do is collaboration and cooperation of these countries to realize the goal of reconstructing this road," he said.
Transportation ministers from Armenia, Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, Iran, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are currently meeting in China to discuss the project.
In a statement, they said they would exploit ways of financing from international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank, and further increase investment in transport infrastructure.
They also agreed to create favourable trans-boundary and cross-border transport conditions to further remove non-physical barriers.
Agreement was also reached to establish an open and sustainable integrated transport system to provide safe and reliable services for passengers and freight.
Xinhua said China has already drafted several transport pacts with central Asian countries. With rapid development in China and other central Asian regions, Europe is increasing turning its eyes towards their markets, and a road network is seen as vital to transport goods.
The Silk Road has a history of more than 2,000 years and served as an important bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
It connected the ancient Chinese, Indian, Persian, Arabic, Greek and Roman civilisations.
Comments
Comments are closed.