China may issue high-speed train tenders after long hiatus

China may issue at least 38.4 billion yuan of high-speed train tenders within the next two months reports Bloomberg. This will end a hiatus of more than a year following a fatal crash last year.

The business news agency cited Hong Kong-based Citigroup Inc, analyst Paul Gong, as saying that the government would probably seek bids for between 300 and 400 train sets with a set comprising of eight or 16 carriages, without specifying any time frame. Gong had earlier spoken to China's two train makers, CSR Corp and China CNR Corp.

It said the purchases would boost CSR Corp Ltd and China CNR Corp, the two big trainmakers whose shares had not yet recovered from a slump after the July 2011 disaster. According to analysts, the government may resume orders as it stepped up railway building as part of wider plans to stoke economic growth.

CSR had made preparations for possible tenders, it said in an e-mailed reply to Bloomberg News questions and China CNR said it expected demand for more high-speed trains as new lines opened.

According to Bloomberg, China needs bullet trains as it plans to build about 8,000 km of high-speed tracks over the next three years. The high-speed rail network, which opened in 2007, would reach 16,000 kilometers under a five-year plan running through 2015.

People's Daily reported in October that the neywork had reached 7,563 KM at the end of September.