China has just inaugurated the world's first railway line running through a desert with the opening of an 825-kilometer section between the cities of Hotan and Ruoqiang, in the Xinjiang region, reports Noticias ao Minuto.

The circular railway line, around China's largest desert, Taklimakan, is spread over 2,712 kilometers, as the newly opened section was integrated into three other existing ones, according to the state-owned China Railway.

The stretch connecting the city of Hotan in southwestern Xinjiang and the village of Ruoqiang in the southeast takes about 11 hours to cover, with a projected speed of 120 kilometers per hour, and stopping at 22 stations.

According to the source, construction of the last section began in 2018 and used 434 precast pillars, to create five elevated bridges, which make up 49.7 kilometers of the route.

The builders also created 50 million square meters of grass planting and planted 13 million plants that grow in that type of soil, such as sea buckthorn, to protect the railroad, using a technique widely used in the region, often affected by sandstorms.

China has invested in recent years in building infrastructure to develop Xinjiang, one of China's most volatile regions and the scene of ethnic conflicts in the past.