Since the beginning of this year, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. has earnestly implemented the central government's decisions and arrangements on promoting both the epidemic prevention and control and the economic and social development, and taken the railway construction as an important measure of "ensuring stability in employment, financial operations, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and expectations" and "ensuring security in job, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments". It has made all efforts to overcome the adverse impact of the epidemic and has strengthened the railway construction organization, thus overfulfilling its railway investment targets. In H1 2020, a fixed asset investment of RMB 325.8 billion was completed on the national railways, an increase of RMB 3.8 billion (1.2%) year-on-year, of which RMB 245.1 billion were made to railway capital construction, up 3.7% year-on-year. As a result, 1,178 km of new railways had been put into operation in this period, including 605 km HSRs.
According to an official of the construction department in CHINA RAILWAY, the railway investment made in Q1 2020 was only RMB 79.9 billion, down 21% year-on-year, due to the impact of COVID-19. In Q2, to implement the central government's decisions and deployments on work and production resumption and on "ensuring stability in employment, financial operations, foreign trade, foreign investment, domestic investment and expectations" and "ensuring security in job, basic living needs, operations of market entities, food and energy security, stable industrial and supply chains, and the normal functioning of primary-level governments", CHINA RAILWAY has increased its railway investment plan and strengthened the railway projects under construction. As a result, in Q2 it has completed a total investment of RMB 245.9 billion, up 11.4% year-on-year, including capital construction investment of RMB 179.7 billion, up 16.4% year-on-year. In addition to overfulfilling the investment plan in Q2, it also made up the railway investment deficits in Q1, realizing a strong growth in railway investment against the impact of the epidemic.
According to the official, CHINA RAILWAY has adhered to promoting both the epidemic prevention and control and the railway construction. By carefully confirming the opening time and responsibility division of each railway, and by earnestly completing tail-in & acceptance, integrated commissioning and test, static and dynamic acceptance, safety assessment and operation preparation for each railway, CHINA RAILWAY has put six new railways into operation on schedule, including Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou HSR (Hefei-Huzhou Section), Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway, Kazuo-Chifeng HSR, Chengdu-Kunming Railway (Miyi-Panzhihua Section) Capacity Expansion and Reconstruction Project, Anhui-Jiangxi Railway (Wuhu-Xuancheng Section) and Golmud-Korla Railway (Qinghai Section), greatly supporting the regional economic and social development and helping the decisive battle against poverty.
CHINA RAILWAY has also accelerated the railway projects under construction and the projects in the preliminary stage, striving to meet their construction fund demands and solving all kinds of difficulties, thus realizing the full-swing work and production resumption in these projects. In H1 2020, to serve the country's development strategy, CHINA RAILWAY has taken the preliminary work of key railway projects such as Sichuan-Tibet Railway, HSRs along the Yangtze River and Xining-Chengdu Railway as its top priorities, ensuring their progress and quality. It has initiated 12 railway projects such as Zhengzhou-Jinan HSR (Shandong Section), Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou Railway, and Aksu-Alear Railway. In this period, it also made significant progress in many railways under construction, including Lhasa-Linzhi Railway, Beijing-Shenyang HSR (Beijing-Hebei Section), Taiyuan-Jiaozuo HSR, Lianyungang-Xuzhou HSR, Ganzhou-Shenzhen HSR, Guiyang-Nanning HSR, Khotan-Charkhlik Railway, Dali-Ruili Railway, etc. Meanwhile, the railways planned to open to traffic in H2 2020, including Yinchuan-Xi'an HSR, Beijing-Xiongan New Area Intercity Railway (Hebei Section), Hefei-Anqing HSR and Huai'an-Zhenjiang Railway, are now proceeding orderly. It is estimated that about 4,400 km new railways will be put into operation in 2020, including about 2,300 km HSRs.
