The first 10,000 km took 11 years and has since doubled in only three years, and is expected to nearly double again by 2025 and reach 45,000 km in 2030, said Huang Xin of China Railway Corp. 

"The new railway links China's two most important north-south railways - the Beijing-Guangzhou and Beijing-Shanghai railways - and also connects East, Central and West China," said Huang Xin. 

The Xuzhou-Lanzhou railway is one of China's four most important railways from east to west, which will link Asia and Europe and play a key role in the Belt and Road strategy, he added.

In 2015, China's high-speed trains carried 961 million passengers, up 237% from the number in 2011.

With the coming of high-speed trains, people in Beijing and Shanghai have begun to buy homes nearby cities and commute. 

The Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway earned RMB 23.4 billion yuan (USD 3.5 billion) last year with a net profit of nearly RMB 6.6 billion. The high-speed rail system encompasses infrastructure, transportation, manufacturing as well as tourism. 

Chinese bullet trains have also found international customers in Indonesia, Russia, Iran and India. Construction of a 150-km high-speed link between the Indonesian capital Jakarta and Bandung began in January 2016. It will cut travel time between the two cities by about two thirds. 

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