BEIJING -- China put 581 km of new railway lines into service in the first four months of the year, including 358 km of high-speed railway, data from China State Railway Group Co Ltd showed.

The country saw 157.46 billion yuan (about $23.21 billion) in fixed asset railway investment in the period, up 0.6 percent year-on-year, according to the group.

While coordinating their work with epidemic control efforts, China's rail constructors have actively promoted the implementation of rail projects among the 102 major projects listed in the country's 14th Five-Year Plan, such as the building of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and capacity expansion of the China-Europe freight trains.

China's rail cargo volume rose 10.1 percent year-on-year and hit a record high of 330 million tons in April, earlier data showed.