China is planning to construct subways and light railways in more than 20 cities, covering a total length of 850 kilometres, the Beijing-based Guangming Daily reported yesterday.

Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou, the capital city of South China's Guangdong Province, already have subways or light railways.

The central government has approved the construction of subways and light railways in nine other major Chinese cities, said the newspaper.

The other cities are Changchun in Northeast China's Jilin Province, Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Chongqing Municipality in Southwest China, Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, Harbin in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Nanjing in East China's Jiangsu Province, Qingdao in East China's Shandong Province, Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province, and Wuhan in Central China's Hubei Province.

Sources close to the Ministry of Railways said that, during the 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05), the Chinese Government will pour 350 billion yuan (US$42.3 billion) into constructing railways.

Of this investment, 270 billion yuan (US$32.6 billion) will go to infrastructure and the remaining 80 billion yuan (US$9.7 billion) will be used to buy rolling stock.

Meanwhile, an additional 800 billion yuan (US$96.7 billion) will be used for urban transportation, and at least 200 billion yuan (US$24.1 billion) will go to subway construction, said Guangming Daily.

Statistics from the Ministry of Railways indicate that Beijing will extend its subway network from the present 55 kilometres of track to 408 kilometres by 2005, while the network in Shanghai will increase from 65 to 780 kilometres, that in Tianjin from 26.69 to 72.195 kilometres, and that in Guangzhou from 18.5 to 129.4 kilometres.

Liu Jingmin, vice-mayor of Beijing, has previously said that the subway and light rail systems will become the leading means of transport of Beijing residents by 2020, when the length of the city's rail network is expected to exceed 1,000 kilometres.

By then, he said, people will be able to travel to the city centre in no more than one hour from Miyun, the city's most outlying county.

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