The Guangdong Railway Construction Investment Group has gone into business Wednesday in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province, which plans to develop 2,164 km of railways and inter-city rail systems in 15 years.

According to the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guangdong Province, the group has a total investment of 120 billion yuan (14.45 billion US dollars) and is the largest railway investment company in mainland China.

The group is the first wholly-owned company set up by the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Guangdong Province since it was established. It is an attempt to make the state assets profitable, the commission source said.

In collection of funds for railway construction, the Guangdong provincial government will put 31.8 billion yuan (3.83 billion US dollars) into the group. And other funds totaling 90 billion yuan (10.84 billion US dollars) will be collected through bank loans, bond issuance, fund rising through BOT projects and sales of property rights, the commission said.

In accordance with the summary of stepping up railway development in Guangdong signed between the Ministry of Railway and the Guangdong provincial government, the province will build nine railways and urban rail systems by 2020.

Source: Xinhua