China's First Private High-Speed Rail Opens... Hangzhou-Taizhou 266km Operation

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] China has introduced its first privately invested high-speed rail line, similar to Korea's Suseo High-Speed Rail (SRT).

According to Chinese media such as Caixin on the 10th, the operation of China's first private high-speed rail line, the Hangzhou?Taizhou route in Zhejiang Province, officially began on the 8th. The Hangzhou?Taizhou high-speed rail line is 266 km long, with a shortest one-way travel time of 43 minutes.

This is the first time a railway line operated by a private company has opened since China announced policies encouraging private capital investment in railway infrastructure. The public-private partnership company Hangtai Railway invested 44.89 billion yuan (approximately 8.5 trillion won) in this project.

However, while Chinese authorities have tentatively allowed private investment, they have not relinquished control over the operation of the nation's core transportation infrastructure, the railways.

A public-private consortium led by the private company Fuxing Group holds 51% of Hangtai Railway's shares, while China Railway Group, Zhejiang Province, Shaoxing City, and Taizhou City collectively hold the remaining 49%.

Founded in 1992, Fuxing Group is a large Chinese private enterprise that has grown in various sectors such as pharmaceuticals and leisure. Fuxing Group is also relatively well-known internationally for aggressively acquiring overseas famous companies such as the French global resort operator Club Med and the French luxury brand Lanvin.

However, since state-owned enterprises still hold about 40% of the shares within the public-private consortium, it can be seen that the Chinese government directly or indirectly holds a majority stake in Hangtai Railway, the first private high-speed rail company.

There are also evaluations that the authority of private companies was significantly restricted during both the construction and operation phases.

Caixin reported that during the construction phase, Hangtai Railway considered selecting a third-party specialized construction company to build the line independently, but China Railway Group, citing "safety" concerns, assigned the construction to a subordinate state-owned enterprise, indicating that the private company had limited influence.

After opening, train operations are not conducted directly by Hangtai Railway but are entrusted to the Shanghai Railway Bureau under China Railway Group.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.