China fixed-assets investment in railways likely exceed 820 billion yuan in 2020

SHANGHAI, Apr 26 (SMM) – China will step up its fixed-assets investment in rail infrastructure, with a number of local governments, including Shanghai and Guangzhou, confirming to boost their spending in the sector, as the country moves to tackle the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

The planned fixed-assets investments in China’s railways have exceeded 815 billion yuan for 2020, according to incomplete statistics, and the reading is expected to surpass 820 billion yuan this year. 

Official data showed that China's fixed-asset investment, including spending in infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets, fell 16.1% year on year in the first quarter, as the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted economic activities.

At the end of 2019, the Ministry of Transport targeted to spend about 800 billion yuan on railway investment in 2020.

China has also unveiled guidelines to foster the development of "new infrastructure" projects, including information infrastructures such as 5G networks and big data centres.