BEIJING — A fund was set up on July 30 by China Communications Construction Company Limited and China Potevio Company Limited, both state-owned, to finance urban rail networks.

The fund will support sustainable growth of rail traffic, and play an active role in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) and the Belt and Road Initiative, said Xing Wei, president of China Potevio.

The fund will target subway construction in Harbin in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province and Qingdao in east China’s Shandong province.

China will launch more urban rail projects in 2015-2017 with the planned length totaling more than 3,000 km, said Li Guoyong, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top macro-economic planner, in June.

In the first four years of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the country spent 860 billion yuan on urban rail with the length at 1,600 km. This year, the country is expected to spend 300 billion yuan and build 400 km, according to Li.