Over the past five years, the Ministry of Communications has invested 450 million yuan (US$60.2 million) to turn the former sand-and-stone-surface highway into an asphalt road.

So far, the upgrading construction on the 400-kilometer section between Lhasa and Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China has been completed. The original poor road, which zigzags across high mountains and deep valleys, has changed into a smooth asphalt highway.

This is in accordance with the country's general plan on highway network construction, according to communication sources from the Tibet Autonomous Region Sichuan Province.

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway is an important part of the country's 318 National Highway, which connects Shanghai, Chengdu, Lhasa and Katmandu of Nepal, and serves as a communication link between Tibet and other parts of China.

(eastday.com 12/24/2000)