Construction of the last of the 35 tunnels on a 202-km railway linking Dali and Lincang in southwest China's Yunnan Province was completed Thursday, marking substantial progress in the railway construction project.

Building the 8.9-km Xingzishan Tunnel, located in Nanjian County under Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, involved high-risk construction lasting more than 1,700 days.

"The completion of Xingzishan Tunnel has laid a solid foundation for the completion of the whole railway on schedule," said Ma Jianhua of China Railway Kunming Group.

Located in the southwest of Yunan Province, 87 percent of the Dali-Lincang railway is bridges and tunnels.

The entire link will be completed by the end of this year, said Ma.

With a designed speed of 160 km per hour, the 202-km Dali-Lincang electrified route will be the first railway linking Lincang. Operation of the route is expected to boost China's connectivity with neighboring countries.