BOMBARDIER and the New United Group (NUG) have signed an agreement to create a new joint venture in signalling and train control in China. The new venture will be located in Changzhou, a city of 4.6 million inhabitants near Shanghai in Jiangsu province, where a number of major cities are planning tram and metro upgrades.

THE concession agreement for Beijing Metro Line 16 was signed on February 8 by the Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing MTR Corporation Ltd and the three shareholders of Beijing MTR.

THE total value of rail equipment exported from China surged by 22.6% to Yuan 26.77bn ($US 4.38bn) last year, according to statistics released this week by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

CHINA's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved construction of the Yuan 43.7bn ($US 7bn) first phase of the metro network in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province.

GUANGZHOU Metro Corporation has awarded Thales a contract through its Thales Saic Transportation local joint venture to supply communications-based train control (CBTC) for two new metro lines in the city.

TERMS for the merger of China's two largest rolling stock manufacturers, CSR and CNR, have been agreed during board meetings held by the two companies during the last two days.

TRIAL passenger operation began on December 28 on the second metro line in Wuxi, a city of 6.3 million inhabitants in Cina's eastern Jiangsu province.

THE chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr C Y Leung, attended the official opening of MTR's Island Line extension to Kennedy Town on December 27, with passenger services starting the following day.

BEIJING expanded its metro network to 527km on December 28 with the launch of trial operation on one new line and three extensions of existing lines.

CONSTRUCTION of the 857km link from Guiyang to Guangzhou, the first high-speed line in China's southwest karst region, was completed on December 21, with test operations set to begin by the end of this week.