China is preparing to build one of its biggest and most challenging railway projects, a new 2,000-kilometre rail line connecting Hotan in the Xinjiang province to Lhasa in Tibet. The route will run through some of the most remote and sensitive regions of the country, passing close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border between China and India. This location makes the railway important not just for transport and economic growth but also for strategic and defence purposes for China.
The project will be handled by the Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company (XTRC), which has been officially registered with an initial capital of 95 billion yuan (about USD 13.2 billion) and is fully owned by the China State Railway Group. This is only the starting amount. The actual cost will be much higher. For comparison, the 1800 km Sichuan–Tibet Railway cost around 320 billion yuan (USD 45 billion) to build. The railway is part of China’s larger plan to create a 5,000 km high-altitude railway network centred on Lhasa by 2035. Once completed, the new line will link the existing Lhasa–Shigatse railway with a new Hotan–Shigatse section, creating a direct transport route from China’s northwest to its southwest.
The route will cross extremely difficult terrain, including the Kunlun, Karakoram, Kailash and Himalayan mountain ranges. It will pass through glaciers, frozen rivers and permafrost, with an average elevation of over 4,500 metres above sea level. Construction will face severe challenges due to the harsh conditions of the Tibetan Plateau, where winter temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius and oxygen levels are less than half of what they are in inland areas. These conditions will cause faster wear and tear on heavy machinery, high costs for transporting materials and the need to carefully protect the fragile environment.
Because the project passes near Aksai Chin, a region controlled by China but claimed by India, it has strong strategic significance. Aksai Chin was a major flashpoint in the 1962 Sino-Indian war, and the broader LAC area remains a tense zone. Although relations between India and China were strained for years due to the Ladakh border standoff, there have been recent signs of improvement. In 2023, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Russia during the BRICS summit, marking a possible thaw in ties. Modi is also expected to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on August 31.
Tibet has long been a focus of China’s mega infrastructure projects and is already connected by air, road, and rail. There is even a high-speed railway extending from Lhasa close to the Arunachal Pradesh border. Recently, China began work on the world’s largest dam on the Brahmaputra River in Tibet, near the Arunachal Pradesh border. This USD 170 billion project has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh about its possible environmental and political impact, but China has stated it will not harm downstream countries. In the past, China also built the G219 Highway through Aksai Chin, which remains a sensitive route in the region.
The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company has registered a business scope that extends beyond railway construction, including real estate development, tourism, catering, hotels and international project contracting. This indicates that the railway is also intended to bring economic activity and tourism to the region. Planning for this project began in 2008, when it was added to the “Medium and Long-Term Railway Network Plan” approved by China’s top economic planner. Survey and design work for the Hotan–Shigatse section began in May 2022, and officials confirmed in April 2025 that construction is set to begin this year. Once completed, this high-altitude rail link will not only connect some of the most challenging landscapes on Earth but also serve as a vital economic and strategic artery for China in one of its most sensitive frontier regions.