China is mulling to lower the threshold for cities applying for urban rail transport construction, a move that analysts¹ say may draw more than one trillion yuan investment while bolstering² ailing³ economic growth.

我国正考虑下调建设城市轨道交通的申报标准。分析人士称，此举或将吸引超过1万亿元的投资，并拉动经济增长。

Cities with a population of less than 3 million, but over 1.5 million, are now likely to get green-lighted to start building urban rails in the next few years, the Economic Information Daily reported last Monday, citing authorities.

经济参考报》上周一援引官方消息称，人口逾150万但不足300万的城市，可能获准在未来几年开始建设城市轨道交通。

Currently, only cities with over 3 million residents, whose fiscal⁴ revenue could reach 10 billion yuan ($1.53 billion) and GDP hit 100 billion yuan, are qualified⁵ for building a rail transit⁶ system.

目前，只有人口逾300万、地方财政收入达100亿元、地区生产总值达1000亿元（折合153亿美元）的城市才有资格建设城市轨道交通。

An action plan, issued earlier by China's top economic planner National Reform and Development Commission together with the Ministry⁷ of Transport, noted⁸ that total investments on transportation⁹ by 2018 will reach 4.7 trillion yuan - about 34 percent will go to new urban rails.

中国最高经济计划部门国家改革发展委员会日前与交通运输部一起发布了一项行动计划，该计划指出，到2018年我国的运输总投资将达到4兆7000亿元，这其中34%将投入到新的城市轨道中去。

Expansion of urban rail transport to smaller cities will add up to the investment as that in large cities start to saturate¹⁰, the newspaper cited Liu Yuanchun, director of National Academy of Development and Strategy at Renmin University of China.

此外，该报道还引用了中国人民大学国家发展与战略研究院主任刘元春的话称，由于大城市已经达到饱和，因此城市轨道交通建设将带来巨大的投资空间。

Light rail construction will not only help ease traffic jams, but more importantly drive the development of a long industrial chain, said Industrial Securities.

兴业证券称，轻轨建设不仅将有助于缓解交通拥堵，更重要的是它还将推动一个较长产业链的发展。

Private capital is encouraged to join government investments in those rail projects, but "local governments should be wary¹¹ of financing risks during the process", said Liu of Renmin University.

人民大学刘元春主任表示，国家鼓励私人资本参与这些铁路项目的投资，但是地方政府应警惕此过程中可能会出现的融资风险。