China to spend $500 Billion by 2020 to build new high speed rail links
Many countries believe that having strong infrastructure helps their economies grow and thrive, and China is out investing everyone.
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Griffin, M. (2017) 'China to spend $500 Billion by 2020 to build new high speed rail links', 311 Institute, 4 January. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/china-to-spend-500-billion-by-2020-to-build-new-high-speed-rail-links/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
The Chinese government plans to expand the country's high-speed rail network to 18,600 miles by 2020, part of public infrastructure spending aimed at shoring up economic growth.
Speaking at a briefing earlier this week Vice Transport Minister Yang Yudong said that overall China plans to invest over $500 billion in constructing new railways between now and 2020 in order to connect over 80% of all its major cities to the network and it's planned that this latest initiative will add an extra 9,000 miles of high speed track to a network which already covers over 12,000 miles.
The plans call for the renovation of expressways and faster construction of railways to serve less well developed regions in central and western China in the hope that it will boost economic growth as China experiences it's sixth consecutive year of slow growth as it tries to move itself away from a manufacturing economy to more of a services led economy so the new announcement comes hot on the heels of other big investments in infrastructure and public works. It's also a technology that the Chinese are keen to export - for example to the UK, and other countries who are also bolstering their own high speed rail networks.
Last Wednesday, China began operating a new high-speed rail line linking the financial hub of Shanghai in the east with Kunming, the capital of southwestern Yunnan province, a poorer region which spans 1,400 miles across five provinces, cutting travel time to just 11 hours, down from 35 hours.
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Many countries believe that having strong infrastructure helps their economies grow and thrive, and China is out investing everyone.
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Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 4 January 2017. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2017). China to spend $500 Billion by 2020 to build new high speed rail links. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/china-to-spend-500-billion-by-2020-to-build-new-high-speed-rail-links/
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