China set to build world’s highest airport
China will build the world’s highest airport in Tibet as part of a 13-billion-dollar investment splurge in the Himalayan region, state media reported on Tuesday. China will spend more than $12.9 billion over the next three years on 180 projects in Tibet, including the airport in northern Ngari prefecture, Xinhua news agency said, citing the regional government. The airport will be the fourth in Tibet and another important plank in China’s plan to link the remote Himalayan region with the rest of China. A third airport began operating in Nyingchi, southeast Tibet, in September 2006, two months after China launched a railway line from Beijing to the regional capital of Lhasa . The Ngari airport will be located at about 4,300 metres above sea level, making it the highest airport in the world, according to reports in the state press. The first reports of plans for an airport at Ngari emerged in 2005. Xinhua said the 180 projects by 2010 would focus on other forms of infrastructure such as