October 25, 2007 (LPAC) -- China will be setting up a big investment firm this year, to finance building the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, China Daily reported. Construction of the project should also begin this year, and it is planned that the trains will run at peak speeds of 350 km/hour. Some 220 billion yuan (almost $30 billion) will be raised to finance the project, including registered capital, bonds and loans. Investors will be led by the Ministry of Railways, but will also include Chinese State-owned commercial banks, regional governments and, possibly, foreign institutional investors. This would mean that, for the first time, foreign capital could be used for a Chinese railway development project, the China Daily reported. Shanghai's Maglev Transportation Development Co was the first to involve Chinese companies in such a project, in addition to the central and local governments. Cost estimates for the project have risen by 90 billion yuan due to rising material and real estate costs. The new railway will carry at least 80 million passengers each year, and the railroad, some 1,318 km long, should be completed by 2010.