China’s railways carried 3.27bn tonnes of cargo in the first 10 months of 2011, up 8.1 per cent year-on-year, reported Xinhua. The railway network transported 1.88bn tonnes of coal, 112.06m tonnes of crude oil, 79.15m tonnes of grain and 70.69m tonnes of fertiliser and agricultural pesticide.

Over the same period, the amount of cargo carried on China’s roads increased 15 per cent to 23.07bn tonnes.