Can China’s high-speed railways get its economy back on track?
- Investments in railway-related fixed assets increased by 23.4 per cent in the first eight months of 2023, and Beijing hopes the infrastructure boom will help stabilise economic growth
- China is expected to add 2,500km (1,553 miles) of high-speed lines this year, which would expand its world-leading system to 44,500km
Calls are rising in China for more high-speed railways to meet rising demand and boost the national economy.
China is expected to add 2,500km (1,553 miles) of high-speed lines this year, which would bring the system’s total length to 44,500km.
Three new lines – Fuzhou-Xiamen, Guangzhou-Shanwei, and Shanghai-Nanjing Riverside – were launched in the lead-up to the eight-day “golden week” holiday that begins on Friday.
“We expect the average annual investment [from China State Railway Group] will increase 18 per cent from 2023-25, compared with last year,” Zheshang Securities said in a report, stressing the role that railway investments play in stabilising economic growth.
Investments in railway-related fixed assets have increased at a much faster rate than for other infrastructure construction. They were up 23.4 per cent in the first eight months of 2023, year on year, whereas road-related investments, which is financed by debt-ridden provincial and municipal authorities, were up only 1.9 per cent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on September 15.
As the operator of the world’s largest high-speed network, China State Railway Group’s fixed-asset investments reached 432 billion yuan (US$59 billion) for the January-August period, up 7.2 per cent compared with the same time last year.