Ground surveys for construction of the railway, linking Kunming in China with the Kyaukphyu port township in Myanmar's Rakhine State through the border town of Muse in Shan State, has begun.  The report by the Ministry of Rail Transport said that 950 kilometres (590 mile) of the route is inside Myanmar. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the rail project was signed by the previous Military Junta and is part of a plan to build a railway connecting Kyaukphyu township to Kunming city in China creating a Kyaukphyu-Kunming corridor. The railway runs parallel to the controversial Shwe Gas Project, which exports natural gas from offshore Rakhine State to China.