BEIJING: China's high-speed rail network in operation totaled 7,735 km at the end of October, ranking it first in the world in terms of the size of its high-speed infrastructure, said an official from the Chinese Ministry of Railways.
The country has made a series of technological breakthroughs in constructing high-speed railways and in other major fields such as heavy-duty and high-latitude rail transport, the unidentified official said on the sidelines of Modern Railways 2012, an international railway exhibition hosted by the ministry and opened in Beijing.
A total of 263 companies from 16 countries and regions including the United States, Germany and France participated in the exhibition, according to China's (Xinhua) News Agency.
China aims to create a high-speed railway backbone featuring four east-west lines and four north-south lines by the end of 2015, under a five-year plan on China's transport system approved by the State Council, China's cabinet.
The country's total length of high-speed railway is expected to reach about 18,000 km by 2015. (QNA)
