Railways open to foreign investors

In an attempt to fix the transport bottlenecks in China's second fastest growing province, the Shandong State Assets Regulatory and Management Committee opened 6 projects to foreign investment, making Shandong the first province to allow foreign investors to fund railway construction and claim local rail property rights, state media reported. The joint program between Shandong and the Ministry of Railways aims to build 2,600km of track by 2010 with a total investment of US$8.46bn. Investors are expected to see a return on investment in six years.