A train supermarket.

THE Chengdu Railway Administration, one of the top 500 state-owned enterprises, is southwestern China's communications backbone. Established in 1952, it administers state-owned railway lines in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces and Chongqing Municipality, including nine trunk rail lines and three joint-venture rail lines. Of its 5,208 kilometers of railways, 659 kilometers are joint-venture mileage.

Under the Chengdu Railway Administration are six units: the Chengdu, Chongqing and Guiyang Sub-administrations, the Passenger Transport Company, the Chengdu Engineering Group Co., Ltd., and the Duoyuan Group. The administration has a workforce of 150,000. The Chengdu section of the railway is typically mountainous, with complex geographical conditions, and steep, meandering lines. Its bridges and tunnels are of such magnitude that they make up one-fifth of the administration's total length, and 21.1 percent of the national total length of bridges and tunnels.

Railway Transportation: Vanguard of the Economy

The Chengdu Railway Administration motto is "Passengers and cargo owners come first." It is currently going all out to reform its management system and operating mechanism. The administration makes timely innovations to its services, and tailors its scope of products to meet current market demands. In 2002, the administration transported 68 million passengers and 112 million tons of cargoes.

Passenger Transport: The Chengdu Railway Administration Passenger Transport Company runs 123.5 pairs of passenger trains in the special express, express, tourist, through express and ordinary passenger train categories. They include deluxe air-conditioned express trains to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as inter-provincial and inter-city trains that reach their destination within twelve hours, day or night. In order to comply with passenger flow and market needs, the administration operates special trains for tourists, students, migrant workers from rural areas, those attending conventions, and holidaymakers. It thus covers the full scope of passenger requirements.

The Chengdu Railway Administration Sentosa Catering Co., Ltd., where in addition to Sichuan and Guangdong cuisine, tea and coffee are also available. General Store: 175 Fuqin Xilu, Yangxixian, Chengdu; Beijing Branch (Beijing Sentosa Teahouse): A 1, Waiguan Xiejie, Andingmenwai, Chaoyang District, Beijing.

Freight Transport: The Chengdu Railway Administration administers 306 freight railway stations, all of which take every opportunity to expand their container transport. For the convenience of freight owners, the one-trip one- window/check/charge/ticket is available. The administration has also simplified and speeded up settlement of claims, and set up claim windows. Measures such as these have won the confidence of freight owners and earned it a solid reputation.

The Chengdu Railway Administration provides regular freight train services with fixed starting points, destinations, routes, rates, and timetable. It provides additional container transport clearing support, and facilitates the organization of goods sources. It operates regular container trains from Chengdu to Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Lianyungang, Qingdao and Kunming; from Chongqing to Pingxiang; and from Fuquan to Zhanjiang.

In order to keep pace with changes on the market, and to guarantee the transport of key materials such as coal, grain, foreign-trade goods, and goods for key enterprises, the Chengdu Railway Administration practices under state guidance the policy of downward flow in its transport fees. It takes flexible measures, such as loading goods first and dealing with the formalities later, with the aim of achieving a win-win result for both the railway and for freight owners.

Railway Construction: High Quality and Efficiency

The Chengdu Railway Administration adheres to the principle of "speed, order, quality and efficiency" in railway construction. During the Eighth and Ninth Five-year Plan periods, the state and the Ministry of Railway invested 50 billion yuan in the Chengdu Railway Administration. This went on large and medium-sized projects such as the Baoji-Chengdu, Chengdu-Kunming, Daxian-Chengdu, and Daxian-Wanzhou railways. The Chengdu Railway Administration has a projected investment of 20-30 billion yuan for the Tenth Five-year Plan. By the end of 2002 it had invested 30.78 billion yuan in large and medium-sized projects -- an average 6 billion yuan per year. It built 1,017.5 kilometers of new railroads, and 842.5 kilometers of multiple tracks, and electrified 1,288 kilometers of railway lines. The total electrified mileage now amounts to 3,773.2 kilometers, making up 72.5 percent of the total operating length. This is indeed a solid foundation for the economic development of the western regions.

Diversified Economy

The Chengdu Railway Administration has made historic breakthroughs in developing a diversified economy based on railway transport. By the end of 2002, the administration had 457 corporate enterprises, with 1,460 outlets and 50,000 employees. Its range of business now covers investment, manufacturing, international and domestic trade, logistics and storage, real estate, hotels and restaurants, transport forwarding, transport with self-provided railway wagons, international joint transport of containers, construction, and engineering. In 2002 the administration earned 6.264 billion yuan from its diversified operations, an increase of 35.32 percent over the previous year, or 1.635 billion yuan. Profits from the diversified economy amounted to 2.398 billion yuan -- an increase of 51.27 percent over 2001.