The development of urban rail transit resolves the conflict between long distance commutation and time, improving residents’ quality of life and promoting the rational layout in cities. The first urban rail transit line in China was constructed in Nanjing in the 1930s. Afterwards, owing to various reasons, it was dismantled around 1950. The first urban rail transit line of the People’s Republic of China was constructed in Beijing in 1969. After the reform and opening up, the construction of urban rail transit is accelerated in China.
By the end of July 2010, about 40 cities in China had been planning or constructing rail transit projects. By the end of 2009, 10 cities in China had been operating rail transit systems with 35 lines under operation (the trams and maglev lines included). The operation mileage totaled 903.43 km (maglev lines included). Among those lines, the Metro Line 7 of Shanghai and Metro Line 5 of Guangzhou were under trial operation at the end of 2009 and went into official operation at the beginning of 2010.
By December 2009, 27 cities in China had been preparing for the construction of urban rail transit. The construction plans of 22 cities have been approved by China’s State Council. By 2015, 22 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will have constructed 79 rail transit lines. The total mileage will be 2, 259.84 km and the total investment is planned to be CNY 882.00 billion. Based on the actual investment for recent rail transit construction projects in China, the total investment would actually exceed CNY 1.20 trillion.
China’s Metro construction achieved high-speed development in 2001-2008. Meanwhile, the passenger transport volume of Chinese urban rail transit also enjoyed fast growth. In 2001, the passenger transport volume of Chinese urban rail transit was only 830 million. In 2002, it approached 1 billion, increased by near 176.50 million. It increased by the growth rate of 24% in both 2004 and 2005, rising from 1.30 billion to 1.65 billion. In 2008, the urban rail transit projects under operation were further increased and related services were perfected continuously. Moreover, with the sustaining fiscal subsidy for public transit in Beijing, more cities began to develop the public transit. Thus, the passenger transport volume of Chinese urban rail transit made a breakthrough in 2008, reaching 3.37 billion, rising by 53% YOY. Its proportion in the urban total passenger transport volume exceeded 4% for the first time. Thanks to the preferential policy of low ticket price, the proportion of residents choosing rail transit as the conveyance has risen significantly. The urban rail transit plays an increasingly important role in satisfying the urban travel demand.
Starting with Metro Line 1 of Shanghai and Metro Line 1 of Guangzhou constructed in the 1990s, China has been widely adopting up-to-date equipment from various countries to construct the urban rail transit systems of the world-class technology.
According to the Notice of the State Council on Enhancing the Construction Management of Urban Rapid Rail Transit issued in 2003, cities applying for Metro construction in China should have the population of over 3 million in city proper, the budget revenue of over CNY 10 billion in local public finance and the GDP of over CNY 100 billion. Cities applying for light rail construction in China should have the population of over 1.50 million in city proper, the budget revenue of over CNY 6 billion for local public finance and the GDP of over 60 billion. In terms of population, the population of city proper of Nanchang, Nanning and Lanzhou, etc. in China has exceeded 1.50 million and these cities have applied for the construction of urban rail transit. Some small and medium cities in economically-developed regions have the population of less than 1 million in city proper, but they are also calling for the construction of urban rail transit.
From the present to 2020, it is a peak period for Chinese urban rail transit construction and the golden period for the development of urban rail transit equipment. By 2020, the mileage of Chinese urban rail transit is planned to be 2,200 km. Provided that the construction price is 300 million CNY/km, the total fund demanded for construction would be over CNY 660 billion (USD 97 billion). From 2010 to 2020, 1,700 extra rail transit vehicles will be demanded annually in China. Furthermore, electromechanical devices, integrated devices and comprehensive monitoring devices will also acquire considerable development space. Providing that the purchase and installation costs of equipment account for 45%~50% of the total construction cost of rail transit, the market scale of rail transit equipment in China will exceed CNY 300 billion (USD 44.10 billion) before 2020.
On the whole, Chinese urban rail transit is now in the primary development period with unsound development mechanism. Nevertheless, various regions in China assume intense intention of the construction of urban rail transit. With the acceleration of urbanized construction, central cities are extending the coverage to surrounding areas. The construction of urban rail transit also needs to be sped up. To overcome the difficulty of investment for rail transit construction, Chinese government actively advocates the entry of foreign-funded and private enterprises into the rail transit construction sector. Presently, foreign-funded enterprises mainly provide equipment and technologies to this sector. Private enterprises with weak capacity face some difficulties in entering this sector. With the expansion of Chinese city scale and the acceleration of the industry transfer to the periphery, it becomes an inevitable trend for foreign funds and private capital to enter Chinese urban rail transit construction.
In the following years, investors of urban rail transit should pay more attention to diversification. For one thing, they should seize the investment opportunities in the construction of rail transit networks in regional economic centers like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. For another, they should draw attention to opportunities in the emerging rail transit industry of other regions.
Through this report, readers can acquire more information:
-Status quo of Chinese urban rail transit industry
-Development environment of Chinese urban rail transit industry
-Analysis on factors affecting the development of Chinese urban rail transit industry
-Major operators in Chinese urban rail transit industry
-Investment in Chinese urban rail transit industry
-Status quo and prediction of the market scale of urban transit equipment in China
-Investment opportunities in Chinese urban rail transit industry
Following persons are recommended to buy this report:
-Rail transit equipment manufacturers
-Rail transit construction enterprises
-Rail transit operators
-Investors concerning Chinese rail transit industry
-Research institutes concerning Chinese rail transit industry
-Others concerning Chinese rail transit industry