The track-laying work for the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, the final section of the Taklimakan Desert railway loop line, was completed on Monday morning in Minfeng County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Construction on the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway started in December 2018. As a key national railway project extending over 825 km, it links up Hotan City in Hotan Prefecture with Ruoqiang County in Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture.

When the railway goes into operation, it will fully encircle the Taklimakan Desert when connected with the existing Golmud-Korla Railway, the Kashgar-Hotan Railway and a number of other southern Xinjiang railways.

"This railway line runs through the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert. Sandstorms pose a serious threat to railway construction and operation as tracks can be buried," said Yang Baorong, chief designer of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway.

Wang Jinzhong, chairman of Xinjiang Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway Co., Ltd., said anti-desertification programs and railway construction were carried out simultaneously, which is unprecedented in China. A total of 50 million square meters of grass grids were laid and 13 million seedlings were planted. Where the threat of sandstorms is greatest, viaducts were built to allow for safe passage.

As an important regional railway included in the national medium- and long-term railway network plan, the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway is expected to open in June 2022.

At that time, five counties in southern Xinjiang and certain towns of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps will be connected to the provincial rail network, which is of great significance to promoting the economic and social development of southern Xinjiang.

Produced by Xinhua Global Service

According to the World Bank study on Corruption Control, Georgia is ranked 45^th among 189 countries and is captured at 45^th position in Top 50 of the world and 19th in Top 20 of Europe. It was announced by Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia at the press-briefing held at the Government Administration today.

According to the Head of Government of Georgia, it has been the fourth time in a row that Georgia got captured in the Top 20. The Prime Minister also noted that in the assessment of Freedom House, Georgia is ranked 11th among corruption-free countries of the world.

"I wish to start with a just released piece of information. It relates a World Bank study on governance and indicators summarising the analysis performed by dozens of research institutions and international organizations. Thus, I wish to let the public know that Georgia truly has a very significant progress and advancement towards this end. According to this report, Georgia has a leading and exemplary position in Europe and throughout the world by corruption-free and effective governance.

More specifically, let me say that by the effective control of corruption, Georgia is ranked 45^th in 189 countries of the world and is captured in the Top 50. In the European context, Georgia is ranked 19^th. It is worth noting that it has been the fourth successive position occupied by Georgia in the referred Top 20.

For the purposes of comparison, let me say that Georgia was ranked 62nd in the study published in 2012. Naturally, we were positioned outside the Top 20 of Europe.

By effective control of corruption, our country is ahead of 10 EU member states: Czech Republic, Italy, Slovakia, Cyprus, Malta, Croatia, Hungary, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria. Georgia is preceded by countries of non-continental part of Europe: Ireland, UK, Iceland and some leading states of Europe.

Out of NATO member states, Georgia is ahead of 14 by the effective control of corruption. Our country leads in the region, while it is preceded only by Baltic countries from the post-soviet bloc.

As for the corruption-free index, Georgia is perceived to be at the 11^th position in the assessment of Freedom House.

According to the global survey of The Gallup Organization, Georgia has been captured at 14th position in the Top 20 of Europe among 122 economies of the world" stated Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia.

The Head of Government of Georgia also noted that by effective governance, Georgia has been ranked 38th in the best 20% of 189 countries, according to the World Bank. Our country has been named at 19th position in the Top 20 of Europe among the continental member countries of the World Bank.

"For comparison, it is worth noting that Georgia was ranked 50^th by effective governance in the study published by the World Bank on October 1, 2012. We have had truly great progress towards this end as well. Georgia is ahead of 8 EU member states: Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. Out of NATO member states, Georgia is ahead of 12 by effective governance and occupies the first place in the Caucasus and Black Sea region.

I wish to note that the Economic Intelligence Unit carried out a study as well and assessed countries with a methodology deploying global governance indicators. Bureaucracy was measured in 180 countries and territorial units of the world in two dimensions: (a) degree of bureaucracy and institutional effectiveness and (b) freedom from excessive bureaucracy.

Georgia received 75 out of 100 percentile assessment for the fourth time in a row this year, thus progressing to 17^th position among the member countries of the World Bank and 12^th in Europe.

Also, I wish to note that Georgia precedes 1 country of G7, 2 member states of the EU and 5 member states of NATO by the rule of law. It is worth noting that in 2008-2012 Georgia fell outside several dozens of positions in the assessments of bureaucracy and received 62.5% at that time" noted the Prime Minister of Georgia.

As noted by the Head of Government of Georgia, rule of law is at a higher level in Georgia than in Italy, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Montenegro in the international rating. According to him, Georgia ranks fourth in the post soviet block, right after the Baltic countries.

"By the corruption of civil servants and government officials, Georgia has been ranked at 20th position among 180 countries of the world and 12th among European countries.

Georgia has also gone forward to many leading countries of the world. Our assessment is one and a half times higher than 9 European countries: Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Malta, Cyprus as well as South Korea and twice higher than in Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. With these measurement results, Georgia has been equalised with such leading countries of the world as the USA, Japan, France, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Iceland, Slovenia, Croatia and others.

For comparison, it should be noted that the current assessment of Georgia is 3 times higher than the results demonstrated in 2011-2012.

And lastly, by the degree of regulation, the World Bank ranks Georgia 19^th among 189 countries of the world and captures it in the Top 20 of Europe. Hence, I wish to once again thank every cabinet member and civil servant for this success" added Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia.

Press Service of the Government Administration