China’s first high-speed rail company launches IPO to raise over $5 billion

The listing adds to signs that China is pushing to further open industries dominated by state-owned companies.

The operator of China’s high-speed rail line between Beijing and Shanghai kicked off its initial public offering, which will for the first time allow investors to buy shares in what is the world’s largest such network.

Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Co., a unit of state-owned China Railway Corp., plans to sell as many as 6.3 billion new shares, or 12.8% of enlarged capital, through the listing in Shanghai, according to its prospectus released Wednesday. Book building for the IPO will begin Jan. 6, it said. The company didn’t say how much it aimed to raise through the sale.

The listing adds to signs that China is pushing to further open industries dominated by state-owned companies. Beijing on Sunday outlined plans to allow private-sector businesses to enter industries including energy, telecoms and rail, and on Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang pledged to give foreign investors greater access to service sectors including finance and health care.

Those steps have come as a campaign to rein in China’s shadow banking industry has sapped financing for many non-state firms and the trade war with the US has led some multinationals to reassess their investments. With economic growth at the slowest since the early 1990s, Beijing has sought to reassure these contingents and spur more capital spending.