China spent RMB820 billion on rail infrastructure in 2015

BEIJING - Data released by the China Railway Corp. (CRC) shows that China invested RMB830 billion in railroad infrastructure in 2015, bringing total investment for the last five years to more than RMB3.5 trillion. A CRC official said that while next year’s investment plans have not yet been finalised, expenditure would be “more than 820 billion yuan”, with the infrastructure investment budget for the 13th five-year plan (2016-2020) possibly surpassing RMB4 trillion.

Audited financial statements from the CRC show the corporation’s debt increasing as income has fallen: CRC lost more than RMB9.4 billion in the first three quarters of 2015, after losing RMB3.4 billion in the same period last year. Total debt had risen to nearly RMB4 trillion as of September, an increase of 11.6% from a year prior. www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).