At a cost of 500 million yuan (60 million US dollars), construction of a container distribution center will start soon on the outskirts of Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.

It will be the first of 18 distribution centers to be constructed across the country, which are planned by the State Council to serve container transportation by train.

The center in Yunnan is to be completed in two years in Chenggong County, 20 km from downtown Kunming.

It is expected to deal with 4.26 million tons of containers in 2005, a capacity to rise to 6.73 million tons in 2010, 10.6 million tons in 2015, and up to 18 million tons in 2050.

It is also expected to promote united container transport by train and by road between Yunnan and southeast countries.

The railway system in Kunming dealt with only 2 million containers in 2003.

Kunming is moving forward to turn itself into a commercial and trade center in southwest China with the establishment of a numberof commodity distribution centers.

Source: Xinhua