City to be Asian transport hub
28/4/2004 15:20
Shanghai will be a hub of a new Asian road network involving 32 Asian
Pacific nations and covering a total of 140,000 kilometers.
On April 26,
officials representing 23 nations signed a historic agreement to complete the
gigantic Asian highway network.
The agreement will come into effect 90 days
after the other eight countries sign up for the long road.
This is the first
inter-government agreement ever inked in 57 years after the foundation of the
United Nations Economic and Social Communication for Of Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP), which is now holding its 60th session in Shanghai.
The highway,
once completed, will originate in Tokyo, connect the Koreas by ferry, cross the
continent to Istanbul and eventually reach the border of Finland.
It will
link Shanghai with other Chinese cities including Beijing and Urumqi of the
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The road network will bring more business
opportunities to Shanghai, according to Cheng Zhi, director of Communications
Ministry's International Cooperation Section.
He said China has adopted
Shanghai's goal of becoming an international shipping center when designing the
Chinese section for the Asian-Pacific highway network.
After the network is
completed, cargo shipped to Shanghai will be dispatched to the inner Asia via
the highway, as far as to Istanbul and St. Petersburg.
Although under
existing international rules cars from one nation will not be able to drive to
another Asian country via the highway, that will change after international
agreements are signed, according to Kim hak-Su, ESCAP executive secretary.
If
that becomes true, local people may drive to any Asian country the highway
crosses.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
|
