Length of express railways in China 2008-2019

Background of the rail development <\h2> China’s state-of-the-art railway network has grown at a rapid pace. In the ten years following the financial crisis, China’s high-speed rail grew from just 3,000 kilometers in 2009 to around 35,000 kilometers in 2019. The central government made rail infrastructure a central feature of its post-financial disaster recovery plan, into which around 1.19 trillion yuan was invested in 2019. Besides, high-speed railway also creates opportunity as the rapid transport encourages tourism and business travel.

Future network growth<\h2> Asia already boasted the highest number of high-speed rail lines in operation in the world as of 2020, a large share of which was located in China. Despite such achievement, Beijing will continue expanding its extensive high-speed rail network. Between 2020 and 2030, China hopes to add another 15,000 kilometers to its existing 30,000 kilometers high-speed lines.