China to invest US$10.8b on four new railway lines

[BEIJING] China has approved construction of four railway lines worth 66.2 billion yuan, or US$10.8 billion, the country's top economic planning agency said on Tuesday.

It is the third time this month that China has signed off on new railway investment, in a sign that the government is lifting investment to tackle slackening economic growth.

The infrastructure projects should foster investment, the biggest driver in the world's second-largest economy, which has sagged this year as a cooling manufacturing sector and a softening housing market discouraged spending.

The new railway lines would run in the northeastern province of Jilin, the western city of Chongqing, the northwestern province of Shaanxi and the northern province of Inner Mongolia, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website, www.ndrc.gov.cn.

Last week, China's central bank cut interest rates unexpectedly, stepping up support efforts as its economy heads for its slowest expansion in nearly a quarter of a century.

REUTERS