China to invest 800b yuan in railway network in 2016

[SHANGHAI] China will invest 800 billion yuan (S$175 billion) in fixed assets in 2016 as part of ongoing efforts to expand its railway network, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday.

State-owned China Railway Corp expects to boost passenger traffic by 10 per cent and freight volume by 2 per cent in 2016, the paper quoted the firm's general manager Sheng Guangzu as saying at a conference on Sunday.

China Railway invested 823.8 billion yuan in 2015, building 9,531km of new lines which included 3,306km of high-speed rail, according to the Shanghai Securities News.

China has been rapidly expanding its railway network over the past years. Total fixed asset investments reached 3.58 trillion yuan during 2011 to 2015 and about 30,500km of new lines were added during that period, the paper said.

Mr Sheng also said that the China Railway would try to win more contracts overseas this year, including the Moscow-Kazan and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail projects.

BLOOMBERG