US infrastructure group Aecom has teamed up with a subsidiary of Shanghai investment conglomerate Fosun to carry out so-called "Transit Oriented Development" (TOD) projects in China.
Working with Fosun unit, Sunvision Holdings, Aecom will seek work on the back of China’s ongoing, rapid expansion of its high-speed rail network, which creates demand for auxiliary subway and metro rail systems, and other infrastructure.
The pairing with Fosun is significant because the investor is majority shareholder in China’s first privately-owned high-speed railway, the 269-km Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou line in the densely populated eastern province of Zhejiang, part of China’s industrial heartland. (The city of Taizhou is pictured above.)
Estimated to cost $7bn (44.9 billion RMB), and scheduled for completion in 2021, this line is the first of eight planned public-private partnership (PPP) high-speed rail schemes in China in which Fosun can be expected to seek a role.
Announcing the joint venture on 25 May, Aecom noted reports saying that by 2030, China’s high-speed rail network is expected to double to 45,000km.
Attending this fast expansion are more than 40 subway and metro rail systems planned or under construction, Aecom said.
"China’s high-speed, long distance and metro rail investment significantly raises the demand for rail-oriented TOD projects," said Sean Chiao, President, Asia Pacific, Aecom.
Other TOD projects Aecom worked on in Asia include new towns in Hong Kong.
A Fortune 500 firm, Aecom had revenue of approximately $18.2bn during fiscal year 2017.
Image: The rapidly expanding east-coast city of Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, will be the terminus of yet another high-speed rail line in 2021 (Sheen/Creative Commons)
