A bullet train tests operations along the high-speed railway line connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou in North China's Hebei Province in November. . Photo: VCG

Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Co (BSHSR) made its debut on Thursday on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where it closed after surging nearly 40 percent, marking a bullish start to the company's listing.

Industry analysts said that the listing signifies a new wave of railway companies will make share offerings.

The company's shares jumped 43.24 percent at the opening to 6.99 yuan ($1.01) before trading was temporarily suspended.

Despite some slight fluctuations, the closing price was 6.77 yuan, up 38.73 percent from the opening.

Luo Renjian, a research fellow at the Institute of Transportation Research at the National Development and Reform Commission, told the Global Times that the listing of BSHSR marked the first step in capitalizing the railway system, and its first-day performance met expectations.

"This will be a general trend in the industry," Luo said. "For sure, other high-speed railway projects or operating companies will be listed."

The company, established in 2007, has been profitable since 2014, according to a report by the China State Railway Group (China Railway) on Thursday.

Promoting the listing of BSHSR is an important measure taken by China Railway to thoroughly implement the central government's decision on deepening the reform of state-owned enterprises, accelerating the reform of shareholding systems and realizing the listing of high-quality assets, the report said.

According to the report, the listing is a concrete action to promote the optimization and adjustment of the company's capital structure, and promote the high-quality development of the railway system.

"BSHSR is one of the most profitable railway lines in China because of the huge demand for high-speed railways," Luo said.

BSHSR has operated safely for more than eight years and carried more than 1.1 billion passengers, according to China Railway.

Behind the facts and figures lie China's broader plan to boost the sustainable, high-quality development of railways, Wei Jigang, a research fellow with the Development Research Center of the State Council, China's cabinet, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"China is aiming to be the world's leading transportation power by 2050, and railways will play the most important part," Wei said.

"We will gradually build the most intensive and developed high-speed rail network in the world, which needs a lot of capital," he said.

In 2019, China's fixed-asset investment in railways totaled 802.9 billion yuan, of which 751.1 billion yuan was invested in national railways, according to China Railway's report on January 2.

"Through the BSHSR listing, we can ease the overall financial pressure of China Railway," Wei said.