C891, the first Fuxing bullet train on the Xining-Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway arrives at Golmud station in northwest China's Qinghai Province, July 1, 2023. (Photo: China News Service/Qi Zengpei) The Fuxing bullet trains with a designed speed of 160 km per hour officially started operation on the 829 km-long Xining-Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on Saturday.

Fixed-asset investment in China's railway sector grew 7 percent year-on-year during the first seven months this year to reach 371.3 billion yuan ($51.6 billion), as China ramps up infrastructure investment to boost overall economic growth.

A number of major projects including tunnels at key points along the Yunnan-Xizang railway in Southwest China saw steady progress or were completed during the January-July period, China's state railway operator China State Railway Group (CSRG) said on Thursday.

In July, the first Fuxing bullet train, with a designed speed of 160 kilometers per hour, began to run on the Xining-Golmud section of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway in Northwest China, adding new growth impetus to the region's strong recovery of summertime tourism, according to the company.

After an improvement project, the railway between Lanzhou in Northwest China's Gansu Province and Xining in Northwest China's Qinghai Province saw operational speed raised to 250 kilometers per hour.

The growth rate in fixed-assets investment was slightly faster than that of the January-June period, when an increase of 6.9 percent was recorded.

Railway investment remained at a faster pace than national average fixed-asset investment, with an annual growth rate of 3.8 percent recorded for the first half and on par with national infrastructure investment growth of 7.2 percent for the period.

China began to lay tracks for the first direct high-speed railway link to Vietnam this week. The stretch of 46.9 kilometers between Fangchenggang and Dongxing in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is expected to be completed by the end of December.

China has accelerated efforts to bolster the country's economic recovery. In the first half of the year, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, approved a total of 91 fixed asset investment projects worth 701.1 billion yuan, spanning energy, advanced technology, transportation and water conservation.