NDRC approves 75b yuan rail projects

China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, approved infrastructure projects valued at 75 billion yuan ($12 billion), in an effort to stabilize China's slowing economic growth.

The news was announced on the commission's website on Monday.

The projects include a city railway in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, a railway between Fuzhou and Pingtan, an island off the coast about 130 kilometers from Fuzhou, and the 2012-2019 city railway planning of Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.

China City Railway Transportation Association said by 2015 total investment in China's city railways would amount to 1.2 trillion yuan. By 2020, a total of 40 Chinese cities will have, or will be building, city railways. The length will be 7,000 kilometers, 4.3 times the current level.

Analysts said the city railways and railway make up the majority of the NDRC's projects for approval.

zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn