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Private and government capital make rail project

By Bao Wanxian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-09 08:05

Prior to the Shandong intra-province railway construction work, Jiangsu province had already built a local railroad project with joint funds from the local government and private businessmen.

A high-speed railway shuttling between Feng county and Pei county in Xuzhou city in Jiangsu province began construction in September 2008.

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On the list of its five shareholders, besides Shanghai Railways Supervision Bureau, Shanghai Datun Energy Resources Co Ltd, the Feng County Economic Development Zone Investment Group and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Pei county, the special Xuzhou city Guangda Railway Construction Co attracted the most public attention.

Holding a 17 percent stake in the new railroad project in Jiangsu province, it was reported that Guangda Co would be responsible for the project's construction and operation for the first 18 months.

The Feng-Pei cross-county railroad, which required a 736 million yuan investment, was the first demonstration project in Jiangsu province to blend money and talent from both the local government and private businessmen.

"What we expect to build was not only a railroad, but also an economic belt to drive the business development along the railroad," an official surnamed Zhou from the railway supervision bureau of Xuzhou county, told China Business Weekly.

According to Zhou, the newly constructed cross-county railway would raise local land prices, bring business opportunities to the counties' manufacturing plants and provide more jobs for local residents.

The railway undoubtedly has encouraged Jiangsu's market potential to investors, according to Yang Zhongnan, deputy director of Development and Reform Commission of Nanjing, capital city of Jiangsu province.

"We want to show local privately owned companies that railway construction work needs open-market participation, and it can bring profit to them in the long term," Yang said recently, adding amid the economic turmoil, more market encouragement would be necessary.

The Jiangsu provincial government is preparing to collect more private capital from both home and abroad for Jiangsu's next intra-province railway system.

In the coming two years, Jiangsu province plans to invest and collect a total 350 billion yuan in local railway construction works.