BEIJING — China plans to build about 10,000 km of new railway lines in its three major city clusters over the next five years to facilitate regional connectivity, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Dec 4.

The country expects railway networks consisting of intercity lines, as well as urban and suburban lines, to take shape in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as of 2025, the NDRC said in a statement.

Upon completion, intercity travel within these city clusters will take less than two hours, and the commuting time within the metropolitan areas will be cut to less than an hour.

Some 6,000 km of the planned railways will be built in the next three years, according to the NDRC.

Accelerating the construction of intercity railways, as well as urban and suburban lines, will serve as a key support for the coordinated regional development in these regions and shore up weak links in regional connectivity and transportation, said the statement.

China will continue to advance coordinated regional development and a new type of urbanization, according to the Communist Party of China Central Committee's proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035.