China shows more signs of opening up with completion of first PPP high-speed railway

The Hangzhou to Shaoxing to Taizhou intercity railway was completed on Tuesday and represents the first high-speed railway controlled by private capital with the private sector having holding status, state-owned media Xinhua reported.

Close to US$7 billion was invested on the 266.9 km rail road which will officially open at the end of this year. It will connect three major cities in Zhejiang Province in addition to linking travellers to the Yangtze River Delta region.

The high-speed train travels at top speed of 350 km/hour, halving the travel between Hangzhou and Taizhou to approximately one hour.

Since the late 1980s China has been developing PPPs, however its first real intentions became clearer in 2014 when a PPP centre was established and just over 1,000 PPP projects were approved across the country, representing an investment of two trillion yuan.