The Chinese government has turned to high speed rail network to boost the country's fading economic growth rate. It plans to expand country's high-speed rail network to 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) by 2020.  

This was revealed by China's Vice Transport Minister, Yang Yudong, while speaking on plans to improve the nation's transportation services. The minister informed that the Chinese government plans to pour $504 billion (3.5 trillion yuan) to meet the project deadline by the end of the decade.

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Yang claimed that through rail expansion, more than 80 percent of China's major cities will be inter- connected. The authorities plan to implement the expansion plan through renovation of expressways and rapid construction of railway lines in the economically backward regions of central and western China.

According to Chinese state media, the expanded line will span across 2,252 kilometers (1,400 miles) that will pass through five provinces and will reduce the travel time from 25 hours to merely 11 hours.       

In the previous year, China's high-speed railway network stood at approximately 19,000 kilometers (11,800 miles).      

The Chinese government over the last two years responded to on-going economic recession by shoring up spending on key infrastructure projects. The government has announced big ticket projects for rail, road, and high bridges in a bid to rescue the recession hit economy.    

Several economists have described the current recession as the worst economic crisis that the country has faced in over two decades.

Apart from infrastructure spending, Chinese government has also announced stimulus packages for many of the critical sectors. However, economists claim that the move has pushed up the government's fiscal deficit to unprecedented level.   

TagsHigh Speed Rail Network, china high-speed railway, china economic growth, china