Advertisement
China’s high-speed railway network to double in length by 2035 under new blueprint
- Investment boom is set to continue until 2035 under a new plan released by state-owned China Railway Group
- State-led railway spending has been a fixture of growth over the past decade, and the scheme comes as Beijing puts new focus on developing the domestic economy
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
China’s unprecedented railway spending boom will continue for at least another 15 years and see its high-speed network nearly double in length, China Railway Group, the state-owned railway builder, said in a new blueprint published on Thursday.
Under the plan, China will construct about 200,000km (125,000 miles) of railways by 2035, a milestone year in which the nation is set to achieve President Xi Jinping’s vision for a “modern socialist country”.
That will mean a 41 per cent increase in rail lines criss-crossing the country, up from the 141,400km today, including about 70,000km of high-speed tracks that will be able to handle speeds of more than 250km/h (155mph).
Advertisement
China had roughly 36,000km of high-speed rail lines at the end of July, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global total.
The ambitious blueprint has been unveiled at a time Beijing is trying to develop its domestic economy to prepare for a long-term rivalry with the United States.
00:50
China’s new railway makes circular network with Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang lines
China’s new railway makes circular network with Qinghai, Tibet and Xinjiang lines
State-led spending on railways has been an important part of China’s growth story for more than a decade. In the first half of 2020, fixed-asset investment in railways rose 1.2 per cent from a year earlier to 325.8 billion yuan (US$46.9 billion), even though China’s overall fixed-asset investment fell 3.1 per cent over the same period.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x