HANGZHOU - Construction of a new high-speed rail link between East China's cities of Hangzhou and Wenzhou began on Thursday and is expected to be complete by 2021.

The Hangzhou-Wenzhou line stretches about 331 km and is China's first public-private partnership PPP funded high-speed railway project by the National Development and Reform Commission, with the private sector having holding status.

Upon completion, travel time between two cities will be more than halved from 2.5 hours to about one hour. Passengers can also transfer to Beijing and South China's Guangdong province via the new line.

The Wenzhou-Hangzhou high-speed railway is part of a national initiative to establish a modern, integrated transportation system laid out in the country's 13th five-year plan (2016-2020).

China has the world's largest high-speed rail network, stretching more than 22,000 km, while its total rail network is over 124,000 km.

By 2020, the length of high-speed railways in operation is expected to be around 30,000 km, connecting more than 80 percent big cities.