Railway equity open to foreign investors

Railway equity open to foreign investors
(People's Daily Online)
Updated: 2005-06-24 09:31

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-06/24/content_454292.htm

The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway scheduled to start construction on June 23 will select from domestic and overseas investors to raise 24 billion yuan.

The trunk line financing is open to various kinds of capital including overseas capitals, which is the first time in China's railway infrastructure construction and operation.

The Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway is the longest passenger transportation line with the largest investment started in China this year. It is 989 kilometers long costing about 116.6 billion yuan and is scheduled to finish and open to trains by the end of 2010.

The Ministry of Railways has authorized China Railway Construction Investment Corporation as investor representative and controlling shareholder. The Ministry of Railways contributes 51 percent while Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei become shareholders based on the costs of land used by the Wuhan-Guangzhou passenger line. The rest will be raised from domestic and overseas investors.

As a raft of high-speed railway projects are planned and started their large-scale equipment procurement and technology introduction have caught the attention of Japan, France and Germany which own high-speed railway technologies.

At the beginning of this month the Ministry of Railways and the German Transportation and Housing Ministry signed an agreement, according to which China and Germany would enhance cooperation in heavy-duty locomotive design and manufacture, design and construction of lines, tractive power supply and communication signals, design and construction of passenger lines. France, which owns the world's first high-speed railway network, also expressed hope to jointly develop new generation high-speed trains with China.

According to experts to realize the Mid & Long-term Railway Network Plan China needs to put 2 trillion yuan into the construction of railways in the next 15 years. In another word about 130 billion yuan will be needed each year. Currently investment in railway construction is only 50 billion yuan each year. The huge investment gap will provide social capitals with huge investment opportunities.

China to strengthen international cooperation in railway sector
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-06-07 19:36
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-06/07/content_449454.htm

Chinese Vice-Premier Huang Ju said Tuesday that China will strengthen international cooperation to improve the level of construction, equipment and management of the railway sector.

Huang made the remark during a meeting with visiting German Minister of Transport, Building and Housing Manfred Stolpe.

China needs to increase railway construction to meet the needs of a fast-growing national economy, Huang said.

China has been conducting a massive railways construction program nationwide with the aim to extending the length of the total operational tracks from the current 75,000 kilometers to 100, 000 kilometers by 2020. Currently, the country can only meet one- third of national demand in freight transport.

China plans to build more multiple tracks and electrified railways, and is considering building high speed tracks. Various countries have been trying hard to grab a share of the high speed program.

"China will launch a number of national key projects (in railway construction)," he said. "We will open wider to the outside world and cooperate with other countries to improve the level of railway construction, equipment and management."

The German minister briefed Huang on German railway construction and technology. He said Germany hopes to expand its cooperation with China in railway, aviation and energy-saving housing renovation.

China and Germany have cooperated in the railway sector for twoyears. China's first maglev train, built in cooperation with Germany, started a test operation at the end of 2002, travelling from the Pudong airport to the city proper of Shanghai.