It is not known how many of those deals will be related to high-speed railway technology.

The upcoming conference will be an opportunity for China to showcase its latest progress in the high-speed railway sector, Chen added.

China now leads the world with 7,531 km of high-speed rail line in operation. It plans to more than double its high-speed passenger network to about 16,000 kilometers by 2020.

The service speed of China's high-speed network is up to 350 km/h.

"China's progress, development mode, technical innovations and cooperation opportunities in the high-speed railway sector will interest the delegates to the conference," he said.

"While displaying our progress, we are also willing to share with our counterparts our technical progress and practical experiences."

The Seventh World Congress on High Speed Rail in Beijing will be the first time that a country from outside Europe has hosted the event.

Initiated and organized by the International Union of Railways since 1992, the conference is said to be the leading global event for showcasing and exchanging views on the developments and achievements of the world's high-speed rail ventures.

The conference will feature high-level officials from international railway organizations and railway authorities from many countries as well as senior managers from global railway companies and high-speed railway experts.

The theme this year is "High Speed Rail Spearheading Greener Transport".

(China Daily December 4, 2010)