China to wrap up Tibet railway extension line

China will soon finish building an extension line of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to link Lhasa to Xigaze, the second largest city in southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region, chairman of the Tibet regional government Losang Jamcan said Friday.

"Hopefully, the Lhasa-Xigaze rail line will be completed at the end of this year or the beginning of 2014," Losang Jamcan said in a group discussion of the government work report at the parliament's annual session, which opened in Beijing Tuesday.

He said the completion of the project would facilitate the development of an ecological tourism zone that covers Lhasa, Xigaze and Nyingchi cities.China began the construction of the 253-km line from Tibet's capital Lhasa to Xigaze in September 2010. Beijing (Xinhua)