Photo taken in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, June 6, 2013. [Photo by Tian Changqi/ provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Ambition doesn't stop in the Middle Kingdom.

The Lanzhou–Urumqi High-Speed Railway (length 1,776 kilometers), completed by the end of last year, will be instrumental in achieving its aim of connecting to Western Europe, part of China's economic strategy to enable companies to trade directly with Central Asia and Europe.

A project to lay HSR tracks from Southwest China's Kunming to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore is expected to start this year, enabling stronger China-ASEAN ties.

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