Report: China rail freight volumes drop 10.5% in 2015

China’s national railway posted its largest ever annual cargo volume decline in 2015, according to reports from news service Caixin.    The total volume of goods transported by China’s national railway fell 10.5 percent to 3.4 billion tons in 2015 compared to the previous year, according to reports from Chinese news service Caixin, which cited figures from the National Railway Administration.
   The decline in annual cargo volumes is the largest ever for the recorded for the world’s second largest economy and does not bode well for its growth, which has diminished considerably over the past year. China’s economy has been slowed by weak domestic demand and an attempt to transition from a manufacturing-based model to one based on consumption.
   By comparison, rail freight volumes dipped 4.7 percent year-over-year in 2014.
   Caixin said China is aiming to expand its rail freight volumes to 4.2 billion tons by 2020, which would require an average annual growth rate of around 4.3 percent.