BEIJING - China's fixed-asset railway investment came in at 106.5 billion yuan ($16.7 billion) in the first quarter of this year, as the construction of more rail lines began during the period, data from China State Railway Group Co Ltd shows.

The figure is an increase of 3.1 percent from one year earlier, the company said.

During the period, a total of 447 kilometers of new rail lines were put into production, including 233 kilometers of high-speed tracks.

China plans to launch new rail lines totaling 3,300 kilometers this year, according to the Ministry of Transport. By the end of last year, the operating length of China's high-speed railway network exceeded 40,000 kilometers.