Construction of the coal shipping Qian'an-Caofeidian railway started Friday in Hebei Province, north China.

The 213-km line will be linked with the Datong-Qinhuangdao railway relieve the pressure on the railway which is specialized in shipping coal produced in Shanxi Province to the sea port of Qinhuangdao.

It is the first railway involving non-government investment, which totals 4.8 billion yuan (593 million US dollars). When in operation in 2007, the railway, with a designed annual capacity of 130 million tons, is expected to help increase the coal transportation capacity of Shanxi, Shannxi and Inner Mongolia, all major coal producers in north and northwest China.

Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan attended the ceremony to mark the beginning of construction and called on railway workers to build the railway "effectively and in high standard" in line with the concept of "quality first and safety first."

With the fast growth of China's economy, the country is facing a serious task to transport coal from the less-developed west to the economically-developed but energy-thirsty east.

Source: Xinhua