China's railway construction robust despite investment slowdown

BEIJING - Investment in China's railways in 2015 is still growing despite an economic slowdown.

China spent 820 billion yuan ($126 billion) on rail projects in 2015 and put more than 9,000 kilometers of new track into operation, meeting its annual targets of 800 billion yuan investment and 8,000 kilometers of new lines, according to China Railway Corporation.

With a newly completed high-speed railway track in the southern Hainan province, China now has 19,000 kilometers of high-speed rail.

The fast growth of railway construction projects came at a time when the country is enduring continuous deceleration in the growth of fixed-asset investment. In the first 11 months of 2015, fixed-asset investment grew 10.2 percent year on year, slowing from 13.9 percent of growth seen at the beginning of this year.