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China is hoping to expand its railway system to more than 40,000kms by 2022 [Xinhua]
Expected to be completed by 2022, the railway project is part of the government’s ambitious $438 billion project to upgrade and expand the existing national rail system.
This is part and parcel of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and is considered a key infrastructure project.
According to the local news agency Xinhua, “China’s had 25,000 kms of high-speed railway at the end of 2017, accounting for 66 per cent of the world’s total”.
It is set to expand this by another 14,000 kms.
Projects that are expected to be underway include lines from Yinchuan to Lanzhou, Baotou to Xi’an, Chongqing and Guiyang, Datong to Taiyuan and Zhanjiang, and Xiamen to Changshaand Chongqing.
Beijing plans to expand its suburb rail lines by 800 kilometers, and urban transits by 900 kilometers, according to 13th Five-Year Plan proposal.
The Belt and Road Initiative will also boost exports of high-speed rail technologies and related products, the national media reported, adding that China expects rail equipment sales to exceed 650 billion yuan ($101 billion) by 2020.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
