File Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged efforts to advance the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway project with high quality, calling the project a major step in safeguarding national unity and consolidating border stability, and significant to promoting economic and social development of western region.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, gave the instruction ahead of the beginning of the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway's Ya'an-Nyingchi section on Sunday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

A mobilization meeting for the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway (Ya’an-Nyingchi section) was held in Beijing on Sunday via video, Xinhua said.

Vice Premier Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, delivered Xi's important instructions, and announced the start of construction of the railway from Ya 'an to Nyingchi.

Xi said that the difficulty involved in the construction is rarely seen elsewhere, due to the complex geological and climatic conditions and fragile ecological environment along the railway. As a result, Xi  stressed that it is necessary to make full use of the advantages of China's socialist system, which can concentrate resources to accomplish a major task.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet railway is a major strategic plan put forward by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council based on the overall situation and with a long-term perspective.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will be the second railway in Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It will go through the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the world's most geologically active areas.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway starts from Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan, travels through Ya'an and enters Tibet via Qamdo, shortening the journey from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 hours to 13 hours.

The newly-built Ya'an-Nyingchi section runs 1,011 kilometers and includes 26 stations.