Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0321 gmt 23 Dec 95

BODY:

[19] Text of report by Xinhua news agency

XINING, 23rd December: Renovation on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway, an artery linking Tibet with China's hinterland, is drawing to an end.

About 90 per cent of the project has been completed so far and the remaining part is to be finished before August 1996, said Feng Zhenglin, deputy director of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Communications Bureau.

As the 1,970-km-long highway handles 85 per cent of the total transport in and out of Tibet, it was described as a "lifeline" by local residents. However, a 700-km section was seriously damaged by seasonal melting of frozen earth as it locates at the frozen belt with a high altitude.

To ensure a smooth transport, the central government has allocated 800m yuan for renovation of the bumpy section since 1991.

Emphasis was placed on a 339-km section in mountainous areas with an average altitude of 4,000 metres above the sea level.

An 11-km section was built with such new materials as polystyrene and steel fibre at Kunlun mountainous area to prevent road cave-in.

China will pour a huge sum of investment in the second phase during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period (1996-2000) with an aim to turn the road into the highest criss-cross expressway in the world, Feng said.