Track-laying on the Hongliuhe-Naomaohu Railway, one of the largest privately funded rail projects in China, was just completed in early July, but insiders have already begun to worry about its future.The 435-km-long cargo line, with Xinjiang Guanghui Industry Investment Group Co. Ltd. as a major investor, aims to make transporting coal from resource-rich Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the booming eastern provinces easier.Guanghui, the largest private energy company in Xinjiang with 109 billion yuan (17.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013 sales revenue, is considered the most capable player to fund the local railway in the far western region.Along with two other private investors, Guanghui will borrow 7.868 billion yuan, or 72 percent of the railway's total investment, to ensure the region's first private railway can be put into operation next year.However, without adequate support from the central government, the massive investment is likely to suffer losses and negatively impact the regional economy, said Li Jie, transportation department head of the Xinjiang regional government's development and reform commission, the region's top planning agency.PAST FAILURESRailways are a strategic resource in China and their construction and operation have been monopolized by the central government, leading to huge debts and forcing the government to
