BEIJING: China plans to further strengthen its strategic transport network in sensitive border regions with India over the next five years to fortify its remote frontiers during the 15th five-year plan beginning this year.
One project involves building a 394km highway linking the northern and southern sides of the Tianshan mountains in Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region, reported the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, quoting a draft report of the plan.
The route will run parallel to a strategic road built through the Aksai Chin area to improve military mobility following the 1962 Sino-Indian border war. Construction of the Dushanzi-Kuqa Highway in central Xinjiang began in Sept and is expected to end by 2032.
The plan also proposes upgrading the three existing highways running into Tibet.
The 15th five-year plan, stated to be the most consequential for China’s future placing more emphasis on AI and new productive forces like e-vehicles and batteries to boost the sagging economy, has already been approved by the Communist Party. The National People’s Congress, regarded as the rubber-stamp parliament, is set to approve it in its current session. China completed the 14th five-year plan last year, during which it initiated the construction of the world’s largest dam over the Brahmaputra near the Indian border. China has been upgrading border infrastructure, building massive roads and high-speed rail networks in Tibet close to the border.pti
