960409

China, Russia

plan to open

Kanas pass

BEIJING: China and Russia plan to open the Kanas pass from northwestern Xinjiang into Siberia, in an effort to boost trade and open up the two landlocked but mineral-rich areas, Xinhua said Tuesday.

The pass, which is the only link between Russia and west China, will be open by the year 2000 and will include a border trade zone to link in Kazakhstan to the east and Mongolia to the west.

"Far from Russia's seaports in the Far East and from the developed areas in Europe, Novosibirsk (Siberia) has considerable strength in basic industries such as machine building and coal mining and is ready to develop economic ties with China which has strength in light industry," the news agency said.

A 1993 feasibility study on opening the Kanas pass predicted the port of entry would attract an annual 100,000 tonnes of cargo and 30,000 passengers when it was first opened, with figures projected to rise steadily.

The Kanas pass is 250 kilometres (155 miles) from the city of Altay in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and 720 kilometres (450 miles) from the Russian city of Novosibirsk.-AFP