(Yicai Global) Aug. 19 -- Gemac Engineering Machinery, which makes trains and railway construction equipment, has become the most recent in a string of Chinese railway companies to go public, as state-owned railway transport behemoth China State Railway Group looks to bring more private capital into the sector.

Gemac’s share price [SHE301048] shot up more than four-fold on its debut yesterday, but closed down 14.33 percent today at CNY15.42 (USD2.38).

Other China Railway units Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway and Beijing Tieke Shougang Railway-Tech also went public recently. And next in line is China Railway Special Cargo, Yicai Global learned.

China Railway, which operates the country’s passenger and cargo rail transportation, also wants to raise funds through public real estate investment trusts for the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway, the Hubei section of the Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu Railway and the Guangdong-Hainan Railway.

By going public and attracting social investment, railway companies can revitalize existing assets and enlarge the value of their holdings, Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute, told Yicai Global.

With more than CNY8 trillion (USD1.2 trillion) of assets, there is still huge scope of China Railway to attract public funds. The securitization rate of national railway assets rose to 5.4 percent at the end of last year, up from 1.3 percent in 2019, according to company data.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor