China boosts railway development

BEIJING - State-owned railway giant China Railway Corporation (CRC) has announced a plan to raise fixed-asset investment to 660 billion yuan ($106.5 billion) this year to boost railway development.

The amount, 10 billion yuan more than the investment target set earlier this year, has been interpreted as a signal that greater investments will be made in infrastructure to boost the economy, sources with the CRC said.

About 5,500 kilometers of railway lines will be put in operation, bringing the total length of railways in operation to 100,000 km by the end of 2013. Express rails are expected to exceed 10,000 kilometers.

In the first seven months of this year, the CRC has invested 261.7 billion yuan in railway fixed assets, up 16 percent year on year.

The company also announced bidding worth more than 50 billion yuan since its establishment in March for locomotives, express trains and cargo carriers.