BEIJING — China's railways will expand by about 3,700 kilometers in 2021, the railway operator said on Jan 4.

Last year, China put 4,933 km of new rail lines into operation and completed 781.9 billion yuan ($119.56 billion) of fixed asset investment in the sector, the China State Railway Group Co Ltd said.

The national railway sector handled 2.16 billion passenger trips in 2020, while the figure is expected to hit 3.11 billion in 2021, a spike of nearly 44 percent year-on-year.

The railway operator forecast that the sector will transport 3.7 billion tons of freight in 2021, an increase of 3.4 percent year-on-year.