The Ministry of Railways (MOR) was a constituent department of the State Council of the People's Republic of China.

The ministry was responsible for passenger services, regulation of the rail industry, development of the rail network and rail infrastructure in mainland China. The ministry was also in charge of the operations of China Railway which manages the railway bureaux and companies in mainland China.

On 10 March 2013, it was announced that the Ministry would be dissolved and its duties taken up by the Ministry of Transport (safety and regulation), National Railway Administration (inspection) and China Railway Corporation (construction and management), in part addressing concerns about calls for independent supervision of the rail industry. It was dissolved that year.

History

The Ministry of Railways' predecessor was the Qing and the Republican Ministry of Posts and Communications.

The Ministry's railway building was important in China's national industrialization campaigns, mass mobilization, and military logistics.[1]: 115  Academic Elisabeth Köll writes that during the Mao era, the Ministry's railways "represented the speed, economic efficiency, punctuality, discipline, technological advances, professionalism, dedication, and heroism necessary to promote the ideals of the party and the government at large."[1]: 115 

In 1989, the state took assets out of the Ministry of Railways and incorporated them to form a state-owned enterprise, the China Railway Engineering Corporation.[1]: 114–115 

On 10 March 2013, it was announced that the Ministry would be dissolved and its duties taken up by the Ministry of Transport (safety and regulation), National Railway Administration (inspection) and China Railway Corporation (construction and management),[2] in part addressing concerns about calls for independent supervision of the rail industry. The last minister was Sheng Guangzu.[3]

Rail bonds

MOR, acting as a corporation in the debt market, has sold 60 billion yuan of bonds in 2007.

For the year 2009, MOR planned to sell at least 100 billion yuan ($14.6 billion) worth of construction bonds to finance a large expansion of the country's rail network.[citation needed]

Railway bureaus and companies

The Wuhan Railway Bureau headquarters

There were 16 railway bureaux and 2 railway group companies under the Ministry of Railways. As of 2008, approximately 2 million people worked in the Ministry of Railways.[4][5]

Bureau or Agency Railway Network in Provinces
Beijing Railway Bureau Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi (part)
Chengdu Railway Bureau Sichuan, Chongqing
Guangzhou Railway Group Co., Ltd. Guangdong, Hunan
Harbin Railway Bureau Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia (part)
Hohhot Railway Bureau Inner Mongolia (part)
Jinan Railway Bureau Shandong, Liaoning (part)
Kunming Railway Bureau Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou
Lanzhou Railway Bureau Gansu, Ningxia
Nanchang Railway Bureau Jiangxi, Fujian
Nanning Railway Bureau Guangxi, Guangdong (part)
Qinghai-Tibet Railway Group Co., Ltd. Qinghai, Tibet
Shanghai Railway Bureau Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang
Shenyang Railway Bureau Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang (part), Inner Mongolia (part)
Taiyuan Railway Bureau Shanxi
Wulumuqi Railway Bureau Xinjiang
Wuhan Railway Bureau Hubei
Xi'an Railway Bureau Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Hubei
Zhengzhou Railway Bureau Hubei (part), Shaanxi, Shandong

List of Railway Ministers

No. Name Took office Left office
1 Teng Daiyuan October 1949 January 1965
2 Lü Zhengcao January 1965 1966
Post abolished
3 Wan Li January 1975 December 1976
4 Duan Junyi December 1976 March 1978
5 Guo Weicheng March 1978 1981
6 Liu Jianzhang 1981 April 1982
7 Chen Puru April 1982 1985
8 Ding Guangen 1985 April 1988
9 Li Senmao April 1988 1992
10 Han Zhubin 1992 March 1998
11 Fu Zhihuan March 1998 March 2003
12 Liu Zhijun March 2003 February 2011
13 Sheng Guangzu February 2011 16 March 2013

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Leutert, Wendy (2024). China's State-Owned Enterprises: Leadership, Reform, and Internationalization. Business and Public Policy Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-48654-5.
  2. ^ "China scraps railways ministry in streamlining drive". BBC News. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  3. ^ Sui-Lee Wee; Huang Yan; Miral Fahmy (25 February 2011). "China railways minister dismissed -Xinhua". The Los Angeles Times. Reuters. Retrieved 26 February 2011.[dead link]
  4. ^ Wu, Zhong (May 7, 2008). "Blowing the whistle on 'Big Brother'". Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
  5. ^ Zhong, Wu (7 May 2008). "Blowing the whistle on 'Big Brother'". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 13 May 2008. Retrieved 5 June 2008.
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