China's CRCC to invest US$ 378 million in railways as order book grows

State-owned China Railway Construction Corp. (CRCC) plans to invest CNY 2.6 billion (US$ 378.75 million) in four major projects thanks to increased future bookings, according to China Securities Journal.

CRCC said it would allocate CNY 65 million (US$ 9.47 million) and CNY 22.5 million (US$ 3.28 million) from its wholly owned subsidiary, China Civil Engineering Construction Corp., to rail development company CCECC-Beyond International Investment and Development Co., Ltd. (CCECC-Beyond) for two projects, although no specific details were given.

At the same time, CRCC will invest CNY 150 million (US$ 21.9 million) in another wholly owned subsidiary - China Railway Track System Group Co., Ltd. - for a manganese steel project.

China Securities Journal also said CRCC is to acquire a 60% stake in real estate company China Railway Real Estate.

A further CNY 840.8 million (US$ 122.5 million) has been earmarked for a "crucial project" in Kunming, the provincial capital of south China's Yunnan Province. Again no details were given.

CRCC said it expects to generate CNY 210 billion (US$ 30.6 billion) in "business income" during 2008, according to Shi Dahua, chairman of the company.

Mr Shi said the company had signed contracts worth CNY 130.5 billion (US$ 19 billion) by the end of May this year, up +77% year-on-year, of which CNY 111.4 billion (US$ 16.2 billion) were infrastructure construction contracts, up +76.2% year-on-year.