Blueprint of railways development
The Qinghai-Tibet railway, for example, boosts tourism in Tibet. Meanwhile, it carries mineral resources out of Tibet, he says.
At present, the railway is the major transport means for bulk stock. Jin Yiyan, an analyst with Shanghai Shenyin & Wanguo Inc, tells Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post that 56 percent of coal, 84 percent of oil, 24 percent of steel, 22 percent of crop and 58 percent of cotton rely on rail transport.
But lack of enough rail transport capacity has caused only 54 percent of the transport demands to be met, he says. Especially in Shanxi, the leading coal production base in China, only 33 percent of the requests for rail transport can be satisfied, he says.
The gap between demand and supply has pushed the government to build more railways and increase the transport capacity. The plan is to build a fast passenger transport network, in order to separate passenger transport from cargo and increase transport capacities.
About the money
Looking back on the past years, it was not until 2005 that the annual railway investment exceeded 100 billion yuan. Between 1998 and 2004, the annual investment was only between 80 billion to 90 billion yuan, the ministry data showed.
As the mid- and long-term railway plan approved by the central government in 2004, the country’s large-scale railway construction began. The ministry began to pour at least 100 billion yuan each year.
Supported by the annual 40-billion-yuan railway construction fund, which is raised from the rail cargo transport, central government allocation and bank loans, the ministry decided the financing mechanism should be reformed.
It introduced local governments and social funds as strategic investors. Media reports showed that in the past few years, the ministry has signed cooperation agreements with 31 provinces and municipalities, involving 158 railway construction projects.
It also began to promote railway projects to large State-owned enterprises, attracting them to invest in railways that concern their interests. In 2005, China Huaneng Group and Taiyuan Iron & Steel (Group) Company Ltd signed contracts to invest in Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan passenger railway. China National Coal Group Corp invested in the 47-km Jigang railway in Tianjin,
Tags: China Investment, Railway