At the end of 2015, China had 19,000 kilometers of high-speed rail (HSR), making China’s the longest HSR network in the world. The rapid transit network composed of HSR and other types of rails covers cities with populations of more than 500,000 people.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011–2015), China Railways Corporation accelerated the building of the HSR network with a focus on the "four vertical and four horizontal" HSR system. The rapid rail network has now been basically completed.

The "four vertical and four horizontal" high-speed system, a main component of China's high-speed rail network, plays an important role in interregional transport. For the "four vertical" part of the system, the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway, the Beijing–Guangzhou Railway, the Beijing–Harbin High-Speed Railway and the Shanghai–Hangzhou–Ningbo–Fuzhou–Shenzhen Express Railway have all started operation. For the "four horizontal" components, the Zhengzhou–Xi'an–Baoji High-Speed Railway, the Hangzhou–Changsha–Guiyang High-Speed Railway, the Ningjing–Hefei–Wuhan–Chongqing High-Speed Railway, the Qingdao–Jinan Passenger Railway and the Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan High-Speed Railway have all been put into operation.

In the way of intercity railways, there is: the Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway and its extension line, the Guangzhou–Zhuhai Intercity Railway, the Wuhan–Xianning Intercity Railway, the Wuhan–Huanggang Intercity Railway, the Nanjing–Anqing Intercity Railway and the Zhengzhou–Jiaozuo Intercity Railway.

In terms of high-speed interregional railways, the Nanning–Guangzhou Railway, the Xiangtang–Putian Railway, the Longyan–Xiamen Railway, the Taiyuan–Zhongwei (Yinchuan) Railway and the Botou–Xi'an Railway have all started operation.

For the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the total fixed assets investment amounted to 3.58 trillion yuan, and the new rail lines put into operation totaled 30500 kilometers, registering a growth of 47.3 percent and 109 percent respectively.