The China Road and Bridge Corp, a state-owned construction firm, would initiate China-Pakistan highway renovation work by the year-end.
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) said that the memo signed on June 30 with the Pakistani highway administration, paves the way for practical operation of the Karakoram highway project, The Peoples Daily China reported on Sunday.
According to the memo, the China Road and Bridge Corp will be in charge of the design and reconstruction of the highway as the general contractor.
At the first stage, the 335-kilometre road between the Raikot bridge to the Khunjerab mountain pass will be rebuilt and upgraded.
According to the SASAC, width of the highway will be expanded from 10 metres to 30 metres, and its transport capacity will be enhanced three times.
Heavy-laden vehicles will be able to run on the road after the upgradation, they added.
The two sides agreed to complete the drawing of the blue print, listing the work items and signing commercial contracts by the end of October, and try to start working by the end of the year.
The Karakoram highway is the only overland connection between China and Pakistan at present.
The 809 kilometre highway, whose location is 600 to 4,700 metres above sea level, was built in 1978.
It is largely broken due to earthquake in late 2005.