(Yicai Global) May 28 -- Several National People’s Congress representatives from regions in western China have expressed agreement with the latest government report that suggested China should increase investment in rail construction to stabilize regional economic development.

Advancing the commencement of new railroads would also improve interprovincial communication, representatives from the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Guizhou and Shanxi said at the Two Sessions, the annual meetings of China’s legislature and top political advisory body. They believe China should work this into its 14th Five-Year Plan, which covers the years 2021 through 2025 and acts a nationwide blueprint to spur progress toward national-level goals like economic growth and agricultural production.

Their thoughts support national plans to add CNY100 billion (USD14 billion) to a railway construction fund, which Premier Li Keqiang revealed when delivering the national government work report on May 22. China invested CNY3.2 trillion (USD453 billion) on transport-related fixed assets last year, according to Ministry of Transport figures. Some CNY803 billion went toward railways, and 8,000 kilometers of new track went into operation during the year.

Kang Jun, an NPC member for Gansu province and director of the provincial level development and reform commission, believes China should offer more support for bonds issued by entities in western China. Railroads linking Gansu, Beijing, Chongqing, Xizang Autonomous Region and central and eastern China should all be part of the 14th Five-Year Plan, he said, adding that the central government should pick up some of the bill for those passing through poverty-stricken areas and those with high populations of ethnic minorities.

Qinghai’s representative Zhang Yongli, also chairman of Western Mining Group, also wants to see a track linking Golmud, Qinghai, with Sichuan’s provincial capital Chengdu in the plan.

Yang Yongying, NPC member and governor of Qianxinan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, wants the Guizhou segment of the Southwest Water Transport Channel to be part of the plan. Yang also wants to see construction of hydropower station navigation facilities capable of handling kiloton-level vessels beginning within the year.

China should break ground sooner on the high-speed rail connecting Changzhi, Shanxi, with Handan, Hebei, and Liaocheng, Shandong, added Yang Qinrong, NPC member and mayor of the People’s Government of Changzhi Municipality. He also wants to see the project added to the Five-Year Plan.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, James Boynton