China Railway Targets $4.4 Billion of Overseas Orders

04.09.2008 (12:39)

China Railway Group Ltd., Asia's biggest construction company, said overseas orders will reach 30 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in the second half, more than double the value in the first half, Bloomberg reports.

Projects include building highways and railways, Chairman Shi Dahua said today at a media briefing in Hong Kong, without saying where they would take place. Overseas contracts totaled 13 billion yuan in the first half, Shi said.

China Railway, based in Beijing, has agreed to invest $2.64 billion to build transport infrastructure for a copper-and cobalt-mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. China accounts for more than 90 percent of its sales.

China Railway rose 0.5 percent to close at HK$6.07 in Hong Kong trading. The shares are down 44 percent this year, compared with a 24 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

The company is also in talks to buy a coal mine and a gold project, both in the country's northern Inner Mongolia region, from its parent to help diversify operations, Shi said. It plans to complete the acquisitions by the end of this year, he said, declining to discuss the price.

The gold mine has a projected output of 400 kilograms (882 pounds) this year, and the coal mine will produce 2 million metric tons, Shi said. About 91 percent of the company's first- half sales came from infrastructure-building projects, according to its Aug. 29 interim report.

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