Beijing and other key cities plan for 10-fold expansion of metro railways
The mainland is planning to have 11,700km of metro railway by 2050 to keep up with the new leaders' ambitions to speed up urbanisation
Mainland cities will expand their metro railways almost tenfold by 2050 to keep up with the aggressive urbanisation drive of the new leadership.
By 2050, mainland cities will have 11,700 kilometres of metro railway, accounting for at least half the world's metro railway, said a bond prospectus of China CNR Corporation, a leading rolling stock manufacturer. This is nearly 10 times the 1,688 kilometres of operating metro railway in 14 cities at the end of 2011.
By 2015, there would be 3,000 kilometres of metro railway, and by 2020 there would be 6,200 kilometres, said the Shanghai-listed firm's prospectus. In the next few years, 1.6 trillion yuan (HK$2 trillion) would be invested in metro rail construction, CNR said.
"Our nation's urban railway has entered a new stage of development. China has already become the world's biggest metro railway market," it said.
Our nation's urban railway has entered a new stage of development. China has already become the world's biggest metro railway market
Incoming premier Li Keqiang had put a lot of emphasis on urbanisation, said JP Morgan analyst Karen Li. "Absolutely, subway building is linked to urbanisation," she said.
In November, Li Keqiang wrote in an article in People's Daily that urbanisation was "a huge engine" of the mainland's future economic growth.