China's rail cargo transport system recovers as economy heats up

CHINA's Ministry of Railways' latest figures show that the country's railway cargo business is growing with daily railcar demand reaching 200,000 in November - 20,000 cars more than in October.

Statistics quoted by Xinhua show in this month, 168,414 railcars were loaded with cargo per day on average. Lanzhou Railway Bureau's volume increased 9.5 per cent, Hohhot Railway Bureau throughput went up 9.4 per cent while Taiyuan Railway Bureau volume grew 6.6 per cent.

Being one of the busiest railways in the world, the Dalian-Qinhuangdao railway, which moves coal, saw steady growth in volume, reaching 1.27 million tonnes a day in November on average with 15 days surpassing 1.3 million tonnes.

Bank of China analyst Zhou Jingtong said growing volume indicates national economic recovery. As stimulus policies kick in, domestic demand will rebound, leading to a better outlook next year, said Mr Zhou.

Truck freight figures also show signs of recovery. In the first 10 months, China's truck traffic increased 14.1 per cent to 26.33 billion tonnes, faster than the growth of 14 per cent in the period from January to September, according to transport ministry data.

In the first 10 months, China recorded a collective port throughput tonnage of 8.06 billion tonnes, up 6.7 per cent year on year, also faster than the growth of 6.3 per cent in the first nine months.

This expansion was again attributed China's stimulus measures to stabilise economic growth with expectations that it will come close to eight per cent this year.