China will expand its subway, light rail transport and high speed railway networks in the next two decades, an official with the State Development Planning Commission has said

He said that foreign railway production companies would be asked to bid for the related projects.

From 2001 to 2005, China plans to extend its subway to 200 km in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing, Nanjing, Qingdao, Dalian, Shenyang, Kunming, Anshan, Changchun and Harbin.

At present, only the first four of those cities have subway lines, and the total length now stands at a mere 83.5 km.

The subway projects are expected to ease mounting urban communication pressures, said Zhang Kuifu, secretary general of the semi-official China Urban Public Transport Association.

To help relieve congestion, Zhang said that light rail trains will be introduced in some major cities as well.

In the next five years, China will also develop high speed railways linking areas of high economic growth, and the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway is in the planning stage.