Railway ministry completes record $6bn bond deal

The Ministry of Railways raised US$6.1 billion to finance its railway modernization plans in China's biggest-ever bond sale, the Financial Times reported. The bond issuance comprises fixed-rate seven-year, 10-year and 15-year bonds. The yields for the bonds are 5.38%, 5.6% and 5.75% respectively. The funds raised will be used to buy trains and finance the construction of a second rail link between Hailar and Manzhouli, China's largest land port city, on the Russian border with Inner Mongolia. China's railway modernization plan, which expires in 2010, calls for 19,800 km of new railway lines, upgrading 15,000 km of existing lines and an increase in passenger train speed and the load freight trains can carry.