BEIJING - China's state planner said on Thursday it has approved a railway project with a total investment of 81.49 billion yuan ($11.84 billion).

The railway project will link Xining, capital city of northwestern Qinghai province, and Chengdu, capital city of southwestern Sichuan province, the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC) said in a statement on its website. ($1 = 6.8848 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Lusha Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) ((LushaZhang1@thomsonreuters.com; 8610-56692106;))