Officials in China say the construction of a new railway to link the west of the country with Tibet is expected to cost more than $3bn.

Chinese Railway Minister Fu Zhihuan told reporters in Bejing the central government would finance the entire project.

Construction of the railway, which will run more than 1,100km (700 miles), began in June this year, and is expected to be completed in 2007.

The minister said he expected the railway would carry millions of tonnes of freight in and out of Tibet.

In addition, five pairs of passenger trains would run every day.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service