China Railway Group eyes increased investment

HONG KONG: China Railway Group Ltd, Asia's biggest builder, will raise spending on tunnel-making machines, factories and other capital projects by 47 percent this year amid a construction boom in the world's fastest-growing major economy.

Investments will climb to 18.1 billion yuan from 12.3 billion yuan last year, Vice-President Li Jiansheng told reporters on Friday in Hong Kong. New contracts increased 26 percent to 248 billion yuan last year, while the order backlog rose 36 percent to 216 billion yuan, the company said on Friday, while announcing full-year earnings.

Net income increased 18 percent to 2.42 billion yuan, it said in a statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange.