The company leading the construction of a Beijing-Shanghai express railway has invited bids for the project, which is to begin construction in January.

In an announcement on Thursday, the Beijing Shanghai Express Railway Company invited global firms and organizations to compete for the project consulting work.

Two other contracts, for civil construction and engineering supervision work, are limited to domestic institutions and companies.

The bidder for the global contract could also be a joint venture of one foreign consulting institution and two local ones, with the Chinese side as lead bidder.

Bidding closes on Dec. 17.

Construction is projected to take five years. The 160 billion yuan (US$21 billion) project is becoming a reality after 10 years of preparation.

The announcement said the Ministry of Railways would provide 78.9 percent of funding, significantly more than the 51 percent proportion mentioned in earlier reports, the Beijing Times said, citing sources familiar with the situation.

The remainder of the funding would come from local governments and companies.

Major beneficiaries are expected to be the railway construction and machine manufacturing companies.

The project will provide five-hour express services between the two cities. The 1,318-kilometer high-speed railway, when completed, will be the longest high-speed rail line in the world. It is expected to carry 160 million passengers annually and double the transport capacity between the two cities.

(Xinhua News Agency, December 7, 2007)