China has allocated funds to do preliminary research on building an international railway connecting the westernmost city of Kashgar in Xinjiang with Pakistan’s deep-sea Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea, according to the Director of Xinjiang’s regional Development and Reform Commission. “The 1,800-kilometer China-Pakistan railway is planned to also pass through Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad and Karachi,” Zhang Chunlin said at the two-day International Seminar on the Silk Road Economic Belt. The railway, running through the Pamir Plateau and Karakoram Mountains, will be one of the hardest to build. Control of Gwadar Port was given to China and an agreement was signed with China Overseas Ports Holding Co on May 16, 2013, to transfer operational rights from the Port Authority of Singapore. Work is also due to begin soon on the long-planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway. The region, which borders eight countries, also plans to open three new land ports to Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia. “We will consider opening the ports to Afghanistan and India once social stability can be ensured. After all, openness is the foundation of boosting trade,” Zhang said.