Guangzhou unveils plan to develop rail transit industry

Local authorities in Guangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong province, launched a three-year plan to develop the rail transit industry, vowing to expand its scale to 120 billion yuan ($17.8 billion) by 2021.

The city's development and reform commission said the industry has become of one of the city's industrial priorities, due to its capital, technology-intensive features and huge market potentials.

According to the plan, the city's rail transit output value is expected to reach 180 billion yuan by 2023.

The city government will promote its major equipment manufacturing capacity, develop standard vehicles with independent intellectual property rights, and build an industrial park and maintenance and manufacturing bases.

A world-class inter-city rail transit network will also be developed in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, said Ding Jianlong, president of Guangzhou Metro Group.

Ding said inter-city and urban rail transit networks reaching a length of 1,164 kilometers has been put into operation in nine cities in the Bay Area.