The Ministry of Railways will raise 20 billion yuan ($3.14 billion) through bonds to finance the construction of the country's railway projects, according to Chinabond.com.cn.

It will be the fourth batch of the offering after the previous three batches in June 12, July 3 and July 31, in which a total of 65 billion yuan were issued.

The new round will increase the ministry's bond issuance so far to 85 billion yuan, over half of the ministry's 150 billion yuan bond issuance quota for 2012, which is approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

The issue is part of a plan by the ministry to speed up the construction of railway projects this year, despite its big losses, which are a result of the previous aggressive expansion of high-speed railways.

The ministry reported a loss of 7 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2012, which it attributed to a slowdown in passenger and cargo traffic.

China's railway fund sources

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