China's rail industry has achieved a breakthrough in the field of foreign contracted projects, said Zhi Luxun, Deputy Director of Foreign Trade Department of Ministry of Commerce in Beijing on Thursday.

China has been involved in 348 overseas railway construction projects in 2014, 113 more than in 2013. The cumulative contract value was 24.7 billion US dollars, three times more than the previous year, and the actual turnover reached 7.6 billion US dollars, an increase of 31.3 percent.

Since China joined the WTO in 2001, its rail industry has become a new growth point for exports. Exports of locomotives have grown from less than 80 million US dollars in 2001 to 3.74 billion US dollars in 2014.

At the same time, the industry has realized a transition from low-end products to high-end ones. In 2014, China achieved a significant increase in exporting high-tech and high value-added products including 160KM/h EMU (Electric Multiple Units) and double-decker carriages.

Statistics show that China's export of railway equipment reached to 26.77 billion yuan in 2014, an increase of 22.6 percent compared with the previous year. The export market covers more than 80 countries and regions in six continents. The main export markets are the ASEAN countries, Argentina, Australia and the U.S.

This article was edited and translated from 我国2014年参与境外铁路建设项目348个, source: Xinhua, reporter: Yu Jiaxin