Railways holding firm, float mulled

China's Ministry of Railways is planning to package one of its most valuable railway line assets into a holding company and then float its shares to the public in a bid to raise capital to fund the country's frantic railway building boom.

The ministry also plans to inject the assets of the 220 billion yuan Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail, to be operational next year, into the company after the proposed vehicle goes public.

The plan, which is still in the very early stages, calls for restructuring of the 300 billion yuan worth of assets of the Beijing-Shanghai railway with the aim of listing it in future, two people with knowledge of the matter said.