China to list railways

China plans to list sections of its railway network in the next two years, says Huang Min, chief economist at the Ministry of Railways official. Quoted in the FT, Huang said the aim was to raise funds for US$248 billion in spending to upgrade the network between 2005 and 2020. The FT cited investment bankers who said the regulatory regime of setting prices was unattractive, but others argued that private equity might fill the gap, seeing opportunities in expected rapid railway growth.