China to attract private investment in railways

BEIJING: China today unveiled guidelines on management of a fledgling railway development fund to attract private investment into the cash-strapped railway sector which is reeling under heavy debts.

The China Railway Development Fund of the China Railway Corporation, will last 15 to 20 years, according to the guideline jointly compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Transport, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In July last year, the Chinese cabinet proposed the fund to diversify the sources of railway investment and financing.

Last year, the government had scrapped railway ministry amid concerns over the USD 43 billion debts to banks due to heavy expansion of the high speed railway which now dominated Chinese infrastructure development.

Former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun was given a suspended death penalty for corruption and abuse of power in July last year.

China's high-speed bullet trains now make up more than half of the country's railway services highlighting their large scale expansion by the Chinese government to improve the connectivity.

China Railway Corp, the State-owned rail operator said recently that of the total 4,894 trains being operated in the country 2,660 are high-speed bullet trains running at speeds of more than 200 km per hour.

China has the longest high-speed railway network in the world, with more than 10,000 km in operation.

It is also actively promoting Chinese high-speed railway technology to other countries, including Turkey, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.