This included investing Yuan 245.1bn on rail infrastructure, up 3.7% year-on-year. As of July 1, China has opened 1178km of new line this year, including 605km of high-speed infrastructure.
Investment dropped to Yuan 79.9bn in the first quarter, down 21%, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, work rebounded in the second quarter, with the country completing works worth Yuan 245.9bn, up 11.4% year-on-year, cancelling out the first quarter reduction. This included a Yuan 179.7bn investment in infrastructure in the second quarter, a 16.4% increase year-on-year.
China National Railways (CR) says it faced a number of challenges during the pandemic, including a lack of construction staff, disruption to the raw material supply chain, and poor access roads. These have since been overcome, and CR began preliminary works on a number of key projects including the Sichuan - Tibet line, Yanjiang high-speed line and the Xining - Chengdu line.
Work progressed on the Lhasa - Linzhi line, Beijing - Shenyang high-speed line, Beijing - Hebei line, Taiyuan - Jiaozuo high-speed line, Lianyungang - Xuzhou high-speed line, Ganzhou - Shenzhen high-speed line, Guiyang - Nanning high-speed line and the Hetian - Ruoqiang line.
A number of key projects, including the Yinchuan - Xi'an high-speed line, the Hebei section of the Hebei - Xiongan inter-city line, the Hefei - Anqing high-speed line, and the Huai'an - Zhenjiang line, are also on track to open in the second half of the year as scheduled.
Overall, CR expects to open 4400km of new line in 2020, including 2300km of high-speed lines.
For detailed data on projects in China and around the world, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
