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As of December 31, 2024, the operation length of the high-speed rail (HSR) in China amounted to around * kilometers. It accounts for almost ** percent of China’s railroad network, which currently was about ** kilometers long.

Significant investment in HSR expansion

Since 2003, when China operated its first high-speed rail line from Qinhuangdao to Shenyang (now part of the Beijing-Harbin Railway), its high-speed rail network has been expanding rapidly. Currently, China has the longest HSR network in the world. China's central government has identified financing for new transportation infrastructure as an effective way to promote sustainable economic growth, and HSR is one of the key investments. In 2020 alone, China's investment in intercity HSR and rail transit was estimated to be worth * yuan, adding about kilometers of new HSR lines into operation. By 2030, China’s extensive operating HSR network was estimated to increase to * kilometers.

HSR transport shows signs of recovery

Intercity travel service in China has been largely disrupted because of urban lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020. In that year, China’s HSR ridership was slashed by about ** percent to only **. A sign of recovery comes after a year in which the number of high-speed rail passengers grew by ** percent to *. As the largest and busiest HSR route in China in terms of passenger volume, The Beijing-Shanghai HSR line generated about yuan in passenger revenue in 2021, about ** percent higher than in 2020.