High-speed railway in China – statistics & facts

During the former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's visit to Japan in 1978, he experienced the world’s first high-speed train, “Shinkansen” (also known as the bullet train). This kicked off the awareness of high-speed railroads (HSR) in mainland China. Twenty-five years later, the first Chinese HSR system connecting Qinhuangdao to Shenyang (now part of the Beijing-Harbin Railway) was operated with a length of 404 kilometers (km) and a speed of 250km per hour. The rate at which China’s extensive express network has been built is staggering. To date, China owns the largest HSR system in the world, with a total operating high-speed rail network of 40,000 kilometers in 2021. This stands over three times the HSR distance of the European Union’s. China is now established as a rolling stock powerhouse that competes at the global level. By 2021, China operated a total of 4,153 “Fuxing Hao” high-speed trainsets (standard high-speed electric multiple units). In addition, the country operates most of the world's fastest trains, such as the CRRC Qingdao Sifang 2021 Maglev train, with a record speed of 600 km per hour.

As a competitive alternative to road and air transportation, HSR has received a positive response from Chinese citizens as a mode of travel. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, the HSR passenger numbers soared to nearly 2.3 billion in 2019, accounting for approximately 63 percent of all rail passenger travel in China. Although HSR ridership still did not return to previous levels, it rose to 74 percent of rail ridership in 2021, representing a faster recovery of high-speed passenger traffic than regular rail passenger traffic in the post-COVID-19 period.

A key investment for China’s future sustainable growth

The Chinese government is promoting sustainable economic growth by investing in new transportation infrastructure, and HSR is one of the key projects. In 2020 alone, China's investment in intercity high-speed rail and rail transit was expected to reach 800 billion yuan. HSR investments are expected to return with tremendous economic and social effects by significantly enhancing the efficiency of the mobility of human resources and goods. By connecting China's remote provinces with its major economic centers, the venture stands as a symbol of Chinese unity and innovation as well. In addition, HSR is a low-emission technology that outcompetes road and air passenger travel in terms of energy consumption per passenger kilometer. Despite China’s state-of-the-art HSR having grown rapidly, Beijing will continue to invest in it over the next five years. According to China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), about 95 percent of the Chinese large towns (with a population of 500,000 or more) will be included in the HSR system by 2025.

Declining profits, even losses

Building the HSR infrastructure can incur significant costs to existing ecosystems and, when tunnels are required, are financially costly. The China State Railway Group (China Railway), formally known as China Railway Corporation, is a state-owned enterprise overseeing the management and safety of almost all public railway networks in China. Directly affected by the strict urban lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, China Railway’s operating profit plummeted about 159 percent year-on-year in 2020 to a loss of 30 billion yuan, and the same amount of costs continued to occur the following year. Moreover, the company has reported a rapidly growing amount of total liabilities, which raised concern for many, given the ambitious plan of the government to further expand the costly HSR network in the next few years. Not all expanded HSR routes in China are profitable. HSR lines located on the densely populated east coast, such as the Beijing-Shanghai line, are the most profitable high-speed rail lines. Nonetheless, the company’s net profit in 2021 was about 4.8 billion yuan, a 56.5 percent lower than in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Wenyi Zhang, Jan 3, 2024

Key insights

Annual number of train passengers
1.67b
Annual number of highspeed rail passengers
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