China saw a surge of investment in railway construction as the country pledged to increase spending as an effort to buoy the world's third largest economy.

In the first five months, China pumped 168.9 billion yuan (US$24.7 billion) in fixed-asset investment in railways, up 120 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement on Wednesday.

The money included 149 billion yuan for railway infrastructure construction, up 161.8 percent from a year ago, 3.328 billion yuan for railway upgrading, and 16.55 billion yuan for purchasing trains, according to the ministry.

The country built a total of 1,942.5 km of new rail lines in the first five months.

China unveiled a four-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November to boost the slowing economy amid the global economic downturn. Public infrastructure development took up 1.5 trillion yuan, the biggest share, of the total package.

The projects cover railways, roads, irrigation and airport construction.

(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2009)