Several Chinese banks and insurance companies are mulling bid for investment in a high-speed railway linking Beijing and Shanghai, according to the 21st Century Economic Report.

Three major commercial lenders including the Bank of China (BOC), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank are all planning to invest 10 billion yuan (US$1.34 billion) each on the project.

"We as a commercial bank should get involved since the project lies in China's most developed area and will transfer large flocks of passengers," the newspaper quoted a senior executive of BOC as saying.

Final decision is yet to be made on how to invest in the project and how much the BOC will invest, said BOC spokesman Wang Zhaowen, who also added that the bank will invest in its own name instead of its subsidiaries.

Three major insurers in the country, namely Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd, China Life Insurance Co Ltd and the People's Insurance Company of China, are also planning for bidding.

Experts predicted the three insurers will grab a stake of three to five billion yuan.

The State Council has approved the feasibility report on the planned project, yet the date to start constructing the project is waiting for greenlight given by the State Council.

Construction of the 1,318 km Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway is scheduled to begin within this year and to go into operation in 2010, the Ministry of Railways said earlier. Investment involved is estimated at around 130 billion yuan.