The Chinese government has approved 2 trillion yuan of spending on railway construction.
The Ministry of Railways has recently revealed that a number of major railway projects will be started over the next couple of years. These will include a high-speed passenger line that stretches from the north to the south.
Zhang Xinfa, China Galaxy Securities, said, "Our country increased investment in railway construction after the Asian financial crisis in 1998. We are now facing a similar situation, so it is a good choice to boost infrastructure construction."
He Huawu, chief engineer of Ministry of Railways, said, "Analysis shows one yuan of investment in railways will result in 5.7 yuan in local GDP."
By the end of 2007, China had 78 thousand kilometers of railways open to traffic, just a third of that in the United States. Under the most recent railway construction plan, the total length of China's railways will reach 90 thousand kilometers by 2010, and exceed 120 thousand kilometers by the year 2020.
