China Railway Corporation (CRC), the state-owned operator of China’s vast railway network, has further eased restrictions on cargo transportation by eliminating requirements on transport account registering effective August 20, benefiting coal miners and producers of other bulk commodities.<br /> <br /> The account, required for anyone to ship goods via the railway, decides whether a company is qualified to obtain transport quota and how much capacity the company can access. An applicant must have necessary business licenses, with fixed location of office and loading platform, in addition to meeting the minimum threshold on company size.<br /> <br /> Setting up the account was a time-consuming and costly process, involving approvals of rail authorities at various levels, which forced many small and medium companies to ship cargoes via more expensive trucking.<br /> <br /> The reform was part of CRC’s efforts to transform itself from state-planned operation to a market-oriented for-profit venture, in response to the government’s call to give more say to the market.<br /> <br /> Industry insiders said this is likely to further squeeze the coal trucking sector, which has suffered from falling transport volume as coal miners struggle with low prices and sluggish demand.<br /> <br /> The Hohhot railway branch, operating rail lines in northern coal-rich Inner Mongolia, eliminated various unreasonable fees since July 1, in a bid to attract more customers amid the slackening domestic coal market.<br /> <br /> <p> China’s railways transported 959 million tonnes of coal during the first seven months this year, down 0.6% year on year, showed the CRC data. </p> <p style="text-align:center;"> <img src="/upfiles/news/image/20140825/20140825175003_9985.jpg" alt="" /> </p>