30,000 km of high-speed railway lines to provide impetus to economy

China has announced its decision to build 30,000 kilometers of high-speed railway tracks linking 80 percent of cities with population of more than 1 million by 2020, a move experts said on Tuesday will boost the economy.

China will promote infrastructure for transport network, according to a threeyear plan released on Monday by the Ministry of Transport, People’s Daily reported.

Developed high-speed railway network would enable China to establish 19 “urban agglomerations,” for instance the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, with stronger competitiveness in economy, Sun Zhang, a railway expert and professor of the Shanghai Tongji University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

It is an internationally verified successful experience, Sun said, noting the urban agglomerations would provide the principal impetus for the country’s economic growth in future.

By the end of 2017, China had 25,000 kilometers of highspeed railway tracks across the country, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Extended railway system would shift logistics from highway transportation to railways, Sun said.

Such development could significantly bring down the cost of logistics, leading to benefit for industry, Sun added.

China also plans to complete testing next year of a “smart” high-speed train that will run on a new line linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou, co-host of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Intelligent technology has been used by Chinese bullet train maintenance units for years, and the driverless “smart” train could be gradually promoted after being tested, Sun said.