A high-level Myanmar delegation led by President U Min Aung Hlaing visited China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) in Beijing on the morning of 17 June during his State Visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The delegation was briefed by officials on the history and operations of CRCC, which was originally established in 1948 as the railway engineering arm of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The organisation was restructured as CRCC between 1984 and 1990, came under the supervision of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) in 2003, was transformed into a modern shareholding corporation in 2007, and was listed on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges in 2008.

CRCC has constructed more than 130,000 kilometres of railway and high-speed rail lines, over 50,000 kilometres of motorways, more than 28,000 kilometres of bridges, over 26,000 kilometres of tunnels, and 120 million square metres of buildings worldwide.

The corporation operates through subsidiaries across 148 countries and regions, including 24 in the Americas, 51 in Africa, 15 in Europe, 41 in Asia and 10 in Oceania, employing around 268,000 workers.

Among its major projects, CRCC was responsible for 46 per cent of the construction of the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway, regarded as one of the world’s longest and most advanced continuous high-speed rail routes. It also undertook 70 per cent of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway, the world’s highest and longest plateau railway.

The company also participated in the construction of the Kunming–Vientiane Railway, China’s first cross-border railway connected to its national rail network, as well as Beijing Metro Line 1. These and other railway projects remain in operation today. In addition, CRCC cooperates with several countries on railway maintenance and rehabilitation works.