Construction for a new railway between Beijing and Shanghai will start this year which would be able to run passenger trains at 200 km/h.

The construction was ratified by the State Council on March 7 and is now at the stage of investigation. Following the present progress, the railway is likely to start construction this year.

Century-old Beijing-Shanghai railway was completed in 1912 and is China's busiest railway as regions along it are the most prosperous economic corridor of the country. Last year, regions along Beijing-Shanghai railway made 43.2 percent of the gross domestic production.

The railway faced a huge demand and could not meet the requirement. Construction of a new express highway connecting the two cities has been under discussion for a dozen of years.