China Railway signals falling orders

China Railway Group had revenues of CNY 265 billion (US$ 41.6 billion) for the first half of the year, a -1.1% decline on the same period last year. However, its profit was up +2.5% to CNY 4.41 billion (US$ 692 million).

The Chinese contractor, which is one of the three largest contractors in the world alongside China State Construction & Engineering Corp (CSCEC) and China Railway Construction, said that while the value of infrastructure work it had carried out was up +3.8% to CNY 241 billion (US$ 37.8 billion), accounting for 91% of its revenues, other business areas were down.

The company also said there was a sharp downturn in its order intake over the first half of the year. It won come CNY 331 billion (US$ 52 billion) in new work over the six month period, a -19.4% decline on the same period last year.

A company statement said, “In the first half of 2015, the number of infrastructure projects opened for bidding was significantly decreased due to the temporary effect brought by the reform of the country’s (China’s) investment and financing structures.”

The company added that in the first half of the year it had been focussed on opportunities arising from China ‘s strategic economic policy, namely the development of West China, the revitalisation of North East China, the rise of central China and maintaining the strength of Eastern China. These are also linked to the ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative to develop regions around the Silk Road and associated maritime channel, along with development plans for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Province corridor and the Yangtze River Economic Belt.