The railway loop line in China's Yangtze River Delta, an economically vibrant region in China, handled about 110,000 passenger trips in the first month of its operation.
Along the loop line, Shanghai and provincial capital cities of Nanjing, Hefei and Hangzhou are all important transport hubs connected with the country's railway trunk lines. For a full loop, the train travels for eight hours and nine minutes on a track that extends more than 1,200 km.
"This is my second time taking this train, and I'm heading to Wuxi this time. I usually travel to Wuxi twice a month, and I prefer this train. The facilities in the carriage also meet my needs very well," said a passenger surnamed Gao.
"In the past month, the loop line in the Yangtze River Delta operated for 28 days, with an average daily occupancy rate of nearly 90 percent, handling over 3,800 passenger trips on an average day," said Peng Bo, deputy chief of the marketing section of the passenger transport department of the China Railway Shanghai Group.
Dubbed a scenery line, the railway threads scenic cities such as Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Nanjing.
"This high-speed railway connects the most economically developed region in the Yangtze River Delta with the region possessing the richest tourism resources, which can further promote the economic development in the region," said Yang Yansheng, an assistant chief engineer at the China Railway Shanghai Design Institute Group.
Railway loop line in China's Yangtze River Delta handles 110,000 passenger trips in first month of operation
Following China's five-billion-euro sovereign bond offering in Luxembourg, the issuance drew solid demand from international investors, with total subscriptions reaching 24.8 billion euros, nearly five times the offering amount.
The bonds, issued on Thursday by the Ministry of Finance, comprise three tranches: 2.5 billion euros in five-year notes at a coupon of 2.768 percent, 1.5 billion euros in eight-year notes at 2.966 percent, and one billion euros in 12-year notes at 3.212 percent.
"The addition of eight-year and 12-year maturities better meets global investors' demand for high-quality, safe, and liquid Chinese assets," said Liu Wei, deputy general manager of the Bank of China's investment banking division.
Investors came from a broad geographic base, including Asia, Europe, the Middle East and offshore U.S. accounts, with participation from sovereign wealth funds, banks, asset managers and dealers.
All bonds were settled through the Central Moneymarkets Unit of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and will be listed on both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
Industry analysts say that choosing Luxembourg as the issuance venue is expected to deepen economic and financial ties between China and Luxembourg.
"This five-billion sovereign bonds is the latest milestone of a very long-standing relationship, but definitely not the last one. China's continued engagement with international capital market, but also the strong financial links that exist between China and Luxembourg make me really confident that there will be much more to come," said Pierre Schoonbroodt, deputy CEO and CFO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.
China's euro sovereign bond issuance draws strong global demand
