China needs two trillion RMB yuan to build railways in the coming 15 years.

According to the Mid and Long Term Railway Network Development Program, the route length of China's railways will reach 100,000 kilometers by 2020, with a separation of passengers and freight traffic on busy trunk lines and half of the lines to be double tracked and electrified. Main technical equipment will approach the advanced level of the world.

By 2020, 12,000 kilometers of passenger lines and 16,000 kilometers of new lines will be completed. Meanwhile, 13,000 kilometers of second line construction and 16,000 kilometers of electrification on the existing lines need to be completed.

Hu Jinglin, director general of the Economic Construction Development of the Ministry of Finance, said to reach the goal, financing is critical

"We can never do it if we rely on the traditional financing system," he said.

The railways in China used to be invested in by the central government, which cannot provide as much money to this sector anymore.

Wang Qingyun, director general of the Transport Department of the State Development and Reform Commission, said the development of railways has lagged behind national economy for the last 20 years.

At present, about 280,000 cars are requested everyday to transport goods while only half of the requests can be met. Wang attributed the slow development of railways to lack of funds.

Wang urged the government to introduce a market economy to this sector, separate enterprises from government, and define property right ownership clearly.

He suggested that the government invest more in commonweal projects while other projects can use private capital. The price fixing and supervision systems should also be reformed.

Lu said the ministry will issue bonds and offer shares or finance on certain projects to combine the modes of government investment and social investment and realize the diversification of the investment entity with different modes of construction.

Source: Xinhua